The final results of the session show that the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.48%, the Nasdaq gained 0.46%, and the S&P500 advanced 0.17%.
The market seems to be “slightly weakening,” but remains “supported by some strongly capitalized stocks,” commented Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.
“Only two of the 11 main sectors are progressing” – technology and consumer goods – “while the other nine are declining,” reinforced Jose Torres of Interactive Brokers, citing sectors like energy, banking, and health.
Among the gainers, “Amazon leads the pack of mega capitalizations for the second consecutive session,” detailed analysts from Briefing.com.
The stock market welcomed last week’s better-than-expected quarterly results from the e-commerce and computing conglomerate, which ended Friday up 9.58%, a rally maintained today with a four percent increase.
The positive sentiment today was driven by the announcement that OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, will acquire additional development capabilities for artificial intelligence (AI) for 38 billion dollars.
This “enhances the enthusiasm for the likelihood of new major deals” in the AI sector, explains Jose Torres.
Another Wall Street conglomerate, Nvidia, a semiconductor company, benefited from the authorization given by Donald Trump’s administration to export its products to the United Arab Emirates.
Regarding indicators, “the day’s economic statistics did not influence investors,” noted Torres.
The ISM index of industrial activity in the US for October came out at 48.7 points, below the 49.5 expected by analysts.
Additionally, the budgetary paralysis in the US, causing the closure of services and federal agencies, the so-called ‘shutdown,’ which has lasted a month, risks delaying the release of important employment statistics in the US expected on Friday.
“The general feeling is that the labor market is losing strength, but in the absence of concrete numbers,” market players “naturally adopt a centrist approach,” said Kevin Ford of Convera.
This “could also prompt the Fed to be more cautious in December and justify a pause,” after last week’s quarter-point cut in the reference interest rate, according to Christoph Balz of Commerzbank.
Among the listed companies, the hygiene product conglomerate Kimberly-Clark lost 14.57% after announcing the purchase of the pharmaceutical laboratory Kenvue, manufacturer of Tylenol (paracetamol), recently linked by Donald Trump without any scientific evidence to an increased risk of autism in children when taken by pregnant women.
