NEW YORK (AP) — More gains for Nvidia, Amazon and other AI superstars are propping up Wall Street on Monday, even as most U.S. stocks fall.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in afternoon trading and was holding near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 196 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:01 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.
The losses were widespread, and two out of every three stocks within the S&P 500 fell. Kimberly-Clark led the way with a drop of 13.7% after it said it would buy Kenvue in a deal valuing it at $48.7 billion. Kenvue, which sells Tylenol, Band-Aids and Listerine, jumped 14.1%.
Beyond Meat tumbled 11% after the plant-based meat company delayed its report for the latest quarter’s results to Nov. 11 from Tuesday. It said it needs more time to assess how big of a non-cash charge it will take against its earnings due to issues it had previously disclosed with some of its assets.
Beyond Meat’s stock has been mostly falling since topping $4 in July, but it went on a wild ride last month where it suddenly soared from 52 cents to $3.62 in three days, a nearly 600% surge. It got swept up in the “meme stock” craze, where prices can rise solely due to online hype rather than any change to the company’s actual business.
A much longer-lasting frenzy on Wall Street has been the furor around artificial-intelligence technology, which proponents say is in the midst of changing the world.
Nvidia was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 Monday, much like it has been for the year so far. The chip company rose 3.3% to bring its gain for the year to date to 55%.
Microsoft fell 0.2% after it announced a $9.7 billion contract with AI cloud service provider IREN that will give it access to some of Nvidia’s chips. The five-year deal will help Microsoft as it looks to keep up with AI demand. IREN jumped 8.8%.
Amazon rallied 4.4% after announcing a $38 billion agreement with OpenAI, which will use Amazon’s cloud computing services to run its AI workloads.
Palantir Technologies, which came into the day with a stunning 165% gain for the year so far, rose another 3.3%. Traders are pushing up the AI darling in the final hours before the data platform company reports its latest quarterly results after trading closes for the day.
It and companies across the U.S. stock market will need to hit expectations in order to justify the big gains for their stock prices since hitting a low in April. Criticism has been rising that the broad U.S. market, and AI stocks in particular, have become too expensive and could be inflating into a dangerous bubble similar to the 2000 dot-com bust.
For the most part, companies have been meeting high expectations for profits. Four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 that have delivered their results for the latest quarter so far have topped analysts’ forecasts, according to FactSet. With the reporting season roughly two-thirds done, companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver healthy growth of nearly 11% from a year earlier.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.11%, where it was late Friday.
It recovered from an earlier stumble following a discouraging report on U.S. manufacturers. Activity for them shrank by more last month than economists expected, with several telling surveyors for the Institute for Supply Management that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are creating financial pain.
“Wonder has turned to concern regarding how the tariff threats are affecting our business,” a chemical products manufacturer told the survey. “Orders are down across most divisions, and we’ve lowered our financial expectations for 2025.”
“In general, business is really strained,” another manufacturer told the survey.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.8% to another record. SK Hynix soared nearly 11%, helped by recent moves to team up with Nvidia in developing the country’s artificial intelligence infrastructure and capabilities. South Korean shipbuilders also logged gains after China said it would cancel added port fees on U.S.-invested or U.S. flagged vessels after Trump met last week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
The Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut its key interest rate on Wednesday and could signal it expects another cut in December as the central bank seeks to bolster hiring. A cut Wednesday would be the second this year and could benefit consumers by bringing down borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans. Since Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled in late August that rate cuts were likely this year, the average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen to about 6.2% from 6.6%. Still, the Fed is navigating an unusual period for the U.S. economy and its future moves are harder to anticipate than is typically the case.
Stocks are rallying toward more records ahead of a week packed with potentially market-moving events. The S&P 500 rose 1% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 224 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.7%. Stocks also climbed in Asia ahead of a meeting on Thursday between the heads of the United States and China. The hope is that the talks could clear rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. This upcoming week will feature profit reports from some of Wall Street's most influential companies and a meeting by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. Gold fell back toward $4,000 per ounce.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
Some seniors say the Social Security Administration's cost-of-living adjustment won’t help much in their ability to pay for their daily expenses. The agency announced Friday the annual cost-of-living adjustment will go up by 2.8% in 2026, translating to an average increase of more than $56 for retirees every month. Eighty-year-old Florence, South Carolina, resident Linda Deas says it does not match the current "affordability crisis.” The benefits increase will go into effect for Social Security recipients beginning in January. Friday’s announcement was meant to be made last week but was delayed because of the federal government shutdown. Recipients got a 2.5% COLA boost in 2025 and a 3.2% increase in 2024.
Wall Street is heading for records after an update said U.S. households are feeling a bit less pain from inflation than feared. The S&P 500 climbed 1% Friday and was on track to top its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 529 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3%. Both are also heading toward records. The inflation data could clear the way for the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates in hopes of helping the slowing job market. A strong earnings reports from Ford Motor and continued gains for AI stars also drove stocks higher.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says that a sharp slowdown in hiring poses a growing risk to the U.S. economy.
Three researchers who probed the process of business innovation have won the Nobel memorial prize in economics for explaining how new products and inventions promote economic growth and human welfare, even as they leave older companies in the dust.
U.S. stocks are rising and recovering some of their sell-off from Friday. The S&P 500 climbed 1.6%.
