The multi-year US$38 billion Amazon-OpenAI deal provided some support to equities, with Amazon shares more than 4% higher.
The Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates as expected. But chair Jerome Powell said another cut in December was “not a foregone conclusion”, contrary to someinvestors beliefs that it was essentially a done deal.
Some Fed officials on Friday aired their discomfort with the central bank’s decision to cut rates, even as influential Fed governor Christopher Waller made the case for more policy easing to shore up a weakening labour market.
Investors have been without most US economic data releases given the ongoing US government shutdown.
“Investors are optimistic about AI and progress with China with respect to the trade truce. But as the market opened, we’re seeing a tale of two tapes,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York.
“The AI and tech stocks are up today and just about everything else is down. Clearly the narrowing of leadership continues in a very apparent way,” he said.
Trump’s tariffs go to Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court is considering the legality of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, with arguments set for Wednesday. Under one legal authority or another, Trump’s tariffs are expected to stay in place long-term.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 178.13 points, or 0.37%, to 47,384.74, the S&P 500 rose 13.39 points, or 0.19%, to 6,853.36 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 108.07 points, or 0.46%, to 23,833.03.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.61 points, or 0.16%, to 1,007.84.The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.07%.
Investors will also get more quarterly results from technology companies this week.
Data analytics company Palantir Technologies is due to report after the closing bell. Palantir shares were up 2.8%. Semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm are also due to report this week, along with Uber and fast-food chain McDonald’s.
US megacap companies delivered a mixed bag of results last week. Investors are looking for a return on the extensive capital spending on AI.
Dollar gains against major currencies
The euro, which slipped as low as US$1.1505 against the dollar, its weakest since Aug 1, pared losses to trade down 0.13% at US$1.1519.
That followed data from the Institute for Supply Management showing US manufacturing contracted for an eighth straight month in October as new orders remained subdued, and suppliers were taking longer to deliver materials to factories against the backdrop of tariffs on imported goods.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.07% to 99.87. Against the Japanese, the dollar strengthened 0.14% to 154.21.
Sterling weakened 0.08% to US$1.314, ahead of a knife-edge Bank of England rate decision later this week.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin was down 2% at US$107,486.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 1.1 basis points to 4.112%, from 4.101% late on Friday.
US crude rose 7 cents to settle at US$61.05 a barrel. Investors digested news that Opec+ plans to end its supply increases.