Treasury yields were mostly lower as a downtick in oil prices moderated some inflation expectations
By Rob Curran
U.S. stocks were mixed, as generally strong earnings offset worries about the sustainability of the debt-fuelled artificial-intelligence boom.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 529.85 points, or 1.02%, to 52495.88. The broad S&P 500 gained 21.84 points, or 0.28%, to 7712.57, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 6.07 points, or 0.02%, to 26424.82.
Treasury yields were mostly lower as a downtick in oil prices moderated some inflation expectations.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined 0.019 percentage point to 5.116%. The yield on the 30-year bond fell 0.047 percentage point to 5.425%. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury rose 0.026 percentage point to 4.785%.
Among other safe havens, the U.S. dollar fell against a basket of rivals as civil unrest in France subsided. Gold futures lost $16.60, or 0.4%, to $4122.40 a troy ounce.
West Texas Intermediate oil futures expiring in December, the most actively traded U.S. contracts, fell 72 cents, or 0.7%, to $97.82 a barrel. Oil reversed early gains after a report from London publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that mediators had presented a proposal to revive talks between Iran and the U.S.
The latest spike in mortgage rates, a response to energy inflation and Treasury yield increases, has dealt a blow to the U.S. housing market.
Housing starts plunged 5.2% to a 1.22 million rate in September, as homebuilders downed shovels. Pending home sales, home purchase contracts signed but not yet closed, fell in September to their lowest level since 2001, when the National Association of Realtors began aggregating the data.
CoreWeave shares inched up 1.7% to $62.13 during another volatile session. At their low of the session, shares of the cloud-computing firm were down by 6.4%. CoreWeave has borrowed billions of dollars to fund a data-center buildout and investors are concerned it has overextended itself at a time when interest rates are rising rapidly.
"If interest rates go up x amount, what does that do to borrowing costs for all of these debt-laden companies that are doing this buildout and using financing to do it?" said J.D. Joyce, president of Houston financial advisory Joyce Wealth Management. "It is becoming more costly and that could hurt margins for some big players.but I don't think it's going to be the death knell for the AI rally."
While CoreWeave is small compared to some "hyperscalers," its data-center funding practices are widespread, making its fortunes an important test case for the broader tech sector.
In South Korea, shares of another cloud-computing company attached to the AI boom, Elice, tumbled by more than 30% on their stock market debut.
In a reminder of the cost of AI infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic could potentially spend $750 billion in the coming years on obtaining more computing capacity. Anthropic made the disclosure in a draft of a Securities and Exchange Commission filing related to its blockbuster initial public offering. Spending on data centers and related fixtures is expected to dwarf investments on any other infrastructure in U.S. economic history.
In deal developments, Salesforce agreed to buy rival customer-engagement platform Braze for about $5.66 billion including debt. Braze jumped 52% to $45.57.
Industrial and consumer earnings were mostly strong, but stocks were mixed.
Shares of diversified manufacturer 3M rose 5.8% to $171.37 after the maker of Post-it notes and a broad range of other goods boosted its full-year earnings projection, a sign that its investments in AI technology may be paying off.
General Motors shares fell 6.8% to $77.09 after the Detroit auto maker said rising commodity and logistics costs weighed on third-quarter earnings.
GE Aerospace fell even after the jet engine maker raised its full-year growth outlook.
Among other aerospace companies, Northrop Grumman shares surged 4.6% to $534 after the defense contractor forecast 5% to 7% sales growth in 2027. Chief Executive Kathy Warden said allied defense budgets were in the midst of a multi-year upswing.
RTX, the aerospace company formerly known as Raytheon, boosted its 2026 growth projections for the third time this year.
Oil-services company Halliburton reported quarterly earnings and revenue growth, benefitting from elevated oil prices. Shares rose 1.8% to $33.59.
Toy maker Hasbro shares jumped 11% to $109.52 after it boosted growth projections for the year, as demand for collectible cards and other lucrative items rose ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Amazon said it planned to hire more than 300,000 workers for its U.S. operations this holiday season.