Market Highlights

The start of what’s known as the best month of the year for stocks saw tech rallying as Amazon.com Inc.’s $38 billion deal with OpenAI added fuel to the artificial-intelligence trade. Bond yields rose. Crypto sank. A renewed advance in megacaps drove a gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” up 1.2%. The ChatGPT maker will pay Amazon Web Services for access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Corp. graphics processing units as part of a seven-year deal. Shares of the online retail giant jumped 4%. Despite the AI optimism, over 300 firms in the S&P 500 actually retreated. The global stock rally hit a speed bump as earnings from AI bellwether Palantir Technologies Inc. failed to impress investors and Wall Street chief executives warned of a possible correction due to rich valuations.

Wall Street’s bull market got fresh fuel at end of a month that’s lived up to its volatile reputation, with earnings optimism outweighing worries about a rally that’s heavily concentrated on tech giants. Following a pause in the S&P 500’s roughly $17 trillion surge, the gauge climbed on solid outlooks from Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. To be fair, not every megacap gained. And the iPhone maker’s advance sputtered as a sales drop in China tempered excitement for what promises to be a busy holiday season. Bonds steadied after a post-Federal Reserve rout. The dollar rose. Stocks began November with gains, suggesting the seven-month rally in global equities may still have room to run amid strong tech earnings and easing US–China trade tensions.

Wall Street pumped the brakes on a stock rally as concerns over whether massive artificial- intelligence spending will pay off sent Meta Platforms Inc. down 11%. Bond yields and the dollar rose as the Federal Reserve tempered rate-cut expectations. A selloff in several megacaps dragged down the S&P 500, following a $17 trillion surge from its April lows. While the US and China agreed on a trade truce, the deal was seen as mostly priced in. In late hours, Apple Inc. posted strong overall sales, though revenue in China fell short of estimates. Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit posted a solid growth rate. Netflix Inc. approved a 10-for-1 stock split. The S&P 500 fell 1%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 4.09%. The dollar hit a three-month high. Bitcoin sank. Asian shares erased all their gains to trade little changed, still hovering near record highs. The Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.1% to a new all-time peak, while gauges in mainland China and Hong Kong fell by more than 1%.

Wall Street was shaken Wednesday as evidence of division at the Federal Reserve over the future of monetary policy whipsawed stocks and pushed bond yields higher. After the central bank delivered a widely anticipated rate cut, Chair Jerome Powell counseled against trying to predict whether another reduction was likely in 2025. His remarks reined in expectations in financialmarkets, with traders reducing bets on a quarter-point cut in December. Equities wavered after the closely watched meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up largely in line with expectations, helping shares hover near their record highs. A gauge of Asian shares edged 0.4% lower after setting a record high Wednesday. Futures for the US and Europe were flatafter President Trump said he had an “amazing meeting” with Xi and would reduce fentanyl tariffs. Contracts indicated modest gains for European stocks at the open. Shares in mainland China dipped 0.8% while the Topix Index in Japan rose 0.7% after the Bank of Japan held its policy rate.

A rally in the world’s largest technology companies sent stocks to all-time highs amid speculation that artificial intelligence will keep driving earnings for the group that has powered the bull market. While most shares in the S&P 500 took a breather after a torrid run, tech megacaps kept rising. Microsoft Corp. finalizeda new pact with OpenAI that will give the software giant a 27% ownership stake worth about $135 billion. Apple Inc. briefly topped $4 trillion while Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang dismissed concerns about an AI bubble Asian indexes advanced on optimism that artificial intelligence will continue to drive profits at megacap technology companies reporting earnings this week, amid growing bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

Wall Street’s hopes the US and China are nearing a trade deal lifted riskier assets, with stocks hitting all-time highs amid a rally in crypto. As demand for safety waned, gold fell alongside short- term bonds. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% as Chinese and US trade negotiators have lined up an array of diplomatic wins for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to unveil at a summit this week. With further Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts on the way, the profit outlook is looking increasingly brighter. Global equities paused their record-breaking rally as investors braced for a flurryof earnings from megacap technology companies and policy announcements from major central banks this week.

Wall Street saw a relief rally as cooler-than-estimated inflation data reinforced trader conviction on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. Stocks extended their October advance, with the S&P 500 hitting fresh all-time highs amid speculation that policy easing will keep powering corporate earnings. An initial jump in Treasuries waned after manufacturing and service surveys underscored resilience in the world’s largest economy. The record-breaking rally in global equities found new impetus on signs the US and China were closing in on a trade deal, triggering gains in copper and oil. Treasuries dropped across the curve and gold slid as demand for the traditional safe havens waned.

A surge in oil prices rekindled concern about any impacts on inflation that could hinder the Federal Reserve’s ability to cut rates more aggressively, driving bond yields higher. Stocks rose amid solid earnings. In the run-up to a reading on consumer prices - the firstmajor report since the start of the government shutdown - crude jumped 5% as the US announced sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil companies in a bid to end the war in Ukraine. Treasury 10-year yields climbed three basis points to 3.98%. The S&P 500 hovered near 6,720. All megacaps but Tesla Inc. gained. The electric-vehicle giant lost 3.5% as profit plunged despite a record quarter of sales. The dollar wavered and Bitcoin gained.

Volatility resurfaced on Wall Street in a session that saw most megacaps getting hit while gold slid alongside cryptocurrencies. News reports saying the Trump administration is weighing restrictions on software exports to China added to recent anxiety around trade. Following a torrid rally, calls for a breather have emerged. The Nasdaq 100 lost 1% after a tepid outlook from Texas Instruments Inc. and a post-earnings slump in Netflix Inc. The S&P 500 closed slightly below 6,700 and The Russell 2000 of small caps lost 1.5%. Ahead of its results, Tesla Inc. slipped. Traders also kept a close eye on geopolitical developments, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the US will ratchet up Russia sanctions. At a time when the equity rally has slowed, the flip side is that the proportion of companies beating earnings expectations this quarter is the highest since 2021. Most S&P 500 firmstypically top expectations, but this season stands out considering that analysts had set the bar higher.

The global stock rally stalled as investors weighed trade tensions and the potential impact of upcoming US inflation data while parsing the latest earnings news. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 erased early gains, suggesting Monday’s Wall Street rally of more than 1% is set to fizzle.A gauge of the dollar rose for a third day as the greenback advanced against all Group- of-10 peers. Gold and silver slid in a strong retreat from recent highs as the dollar strengthened. Gold gained 0.3% after its worst intraday drop in more than a dozen years in the previous session. Silver also rose following Tuesday’s 7.1% fall.