#us-equities

#us-equities

U.S. equity markets ended the week lower as a mix of trade tensions and political uncertainty unsettled investors. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 initially held firm, supported by continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related companies. A major boost came from Advanced Micro Devices' announcement of a strategic partnership with OpenAI, which lifted AMD's shares by more than 20% early in the week.

With government data releases halted by the shutdown, markets turned to private indicators for clues about the economy's health. Payroll provider ADP reported a surprising 32,000 job losses in September-far below expectations for job gains-fuelling expectations for Fed rate cuts. However, several Fed officials maintained a cautious tone. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned of persistent services inflation, while Dallas Fed's Lorie Logan suggested a slower path to policy normalization.

Much of this edge stems from seasonal factors, including the Christmas holiday shopping surge that boosts retail and consumer sectors from November through December. Strong earnings reports in Q4 also often fuel optimism, as companies close out the year with solid results. The quarter also aligns with the close of the old investing adage to "sell in May and go away," where investors who sidelined themselves during the slower summer months return to the markets adding capital, driving demand.

Bear markets, let's remember, are caused by recessions and, so far, the US economy keeps ticking along...even with a government shutdown the stock market made new highs. Partly that is because markets usually do look through shutdowns, partly it's because this remains a late-cycle grind up with momentum and FOMO driving prices higher. No nonfarm payrolls later due to the government shutdown, so it is kind of tricky for the FX traders and bond markets.

U.S. financial markets rallied this week as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first time since December 2024, cutting by a quarter of a percentage point. The move had been widely anticipated, but it reassured investors that the central bank is ready to support growth as the labour market shows signs of softening. The Fed's updated projections suggest that policymakers expect further cuts of up to half a percentage point

U.S. stocks have made furious rebounds, setting fresh record highs and eroding the outperformance that European markets have enjoyed for much of this year. The S&P 500 is now up 13% year to date and the Nasdaq is up 17%. As recently as late June, when the broad market index had retaken its prior all-time high, both were up 5%.

Wall Street traders drove stocks lower amid a selloff in tech shares that have powered the surge from April's meltdown. That's despite economic data that did little to alter bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with bonds and the dollar seeing small moves. Equities fell after a rally that drove the S&P 500 to all-time highs. The market is bracing for what has historically been the weakest month for US shares.

US equities advanced as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record levels, driven by hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts and soft consumer price data.

U.S. equities faced a notable decline, with the Dow falling 1.32% amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, reversing earlier market optimism.