Amazon?s $38B AI Deal Lifts Tech Stocks as Dow Slips on Weak Manufacturing Data

Tech optimism drove the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher despite the Dow?s decline, with Amazon, Nvidia, and oil service stocks rallying as traders eyed upcoming labor data and global markets showed mixed momentum.

The Dow fell by 226.19 points (0.5%) to 47,336.68, but the S&P 500 rose 11.77 points (0.2%) to 6,851.97 and the Nasdaq climbed 109.77 points (0.5%) to 23,834.72.

Amazon?s stock kept the momentum going after sealing a massive $38 billion deal with OpenAI, letting AWS power the AI leader?s heavy-duty workloads. The partnership fueled optimism across the tech sector, with Nvidia also getting a 2.2% lift after Microsoft secured licenses to ship its chips to the UAE.

Meanwhile, the Dow took a hit as Merck slid over 4%, joined by Nike, 3M and Chevron in the red. With traders cautious ahead of Wednesday?s ADP jobs data?and key reports stalled by the government shutdown?attention turned to the ISM?s manufacturing update, which showed the PMI dipping to 48.7, signaling continued contraction.

Oil service stocks turned in a strong performance amid a modest increase by the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumping by 2.2%. Retail stocks were considerably strong amid the surge by Amazon, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 1.7%. Computer hardware stocks too saw significant strength on the day while housing stocks showed a notable move to the downside.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6% while South Korea's Kospi surged by 2.8%. Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day while the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7%, although the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.2%.

In the bond market, treasuries continued to show a lack of direction after ending last Friday's trading roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.10%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News