Stock market today: Nasdaq closes above 23,000 for first time as tech rebounds
Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures moved little on Tuesday evening, steadying after a negative session on Wall Street amid some questions over the artificial intelligence trade.
An ongoing government shutdown also kept markets on edge as a political deadlock in Congress persisted. Lawmakers made little progress towards a spending bill, despite attempts at mediation by President Donald Trump.
Focus in the coming days is also on a swathe of Federal Reserve speakers, including Chair Jerome Powell, for more cues on interest rates. Markets are widely pricing in a 25 basis point cut later this month.
S&P 500 Futures steadied at 6,762.50 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures were flat at 25,047.0 points by 19:20 ET (23:20 GMT). Dow Jones Futures steadied at 46,852.0 points.
Wall St weighed down by Oracle, Tesla losses
Wall Street indexes fell on Tuesday, weighed chiefly by losses in technology and AI-linked stocks after a report raised questions over cloud major Oracle’s margins.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) lost 0.5% in aftermarket trade following a 2.4% drop during the session, after The Information reported that the company’s margins on its chips rental business were far slimmer than markets were hoping, raising questions over Oracle’s greater AI ambitions.
The report sparked losses across tech and AI stocks, with major NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) falling 0.3%, while Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shed 1.8%. Nvidia steadied in aftermarket trade after Bloomberg reported it was planning to invest up to $2 billion in xAI, as the latter moves to acquire more Nvidia chips.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was also a weight on Wall Street, falling nearly 5% after the reveal of two new low-cost electric vehicles largely underwhelmed. The company unveiled low-cost versions of its Model 3 and Y, but analysts saw the prices as still too high to substantially boost lagging vehicle sales.
Tech stocks were due for some profit-taking after rallying over the past week and driving Wall Street to a series of record highs. Despite Tuesday’s losses, the sector still remained largely underpinned by optimism over AI.
Powell speech, Fed minutes due this week
A slew of Fed officials are set to speak in the coming days, offering up more cues on the U.S. economy amid an ongoing government shutdown.
Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan is set to speak on Wednesday, while the minutes of the Fed’s September meeting are also due then.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to talk on Thursday.
Markets are pricing in a nearly 100% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in October, following a similar move in September, CME Fedwatch showed. Signs of a cooling labor market largely drove these bets.
But markets were still awaiting more definite cues on the economy, especially as a government shutdown delayed the release of several key data points.