#market-reaction

#market-reaction

The broad index of large-cap companies in the S&P 500 closed flat, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.55%. Tech stocks were led by Nvidia, which was up 3%, and now has a market cap of more than $5 trillion. (Its stock is down 0.7% premarket this morning, suggesting that some traders are taking their overnight gains.) To put that in perspective, Nvidia's market cap is bigger than the GDP of every G7 country except the U.S. and Japan.

Bitcoin price surged past $111,000 today after new U.S. inflation data showed a milder-than-expected rise in consumer prices, strengthening expectations that the Federal Reserve will move ahead with additional rate cuts this year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% month-over-month in September, below economists' forecasts of 0.4%, while "core" CPI - excluding food and energy - rose just 0.2%, also softer than expected. On a year-over-year basis, both headline and core inflation registered 3.0%, slightly below estimates.

A recent Wall Street Journal report has sparked major renewed interest in the quantum computing sector, claiming that President Trump is pushing for the U.S. government to acquire ownership stakes in several key players. According to the Journal, discussions involve Rigetti Computing ( NASDAQ:RGTI ), D-Wave Quantum ( ), IonQ ( ), and Quantum Computing ( NASDAQ:QUBT ), with each company potentially receiving federal funding in exchange for equity. The report suggests this move aims to bolster U.S. leadership in quantum technology amid global competition.

The tension between Wall Street and Main Street was on display this week as the country's top banks reported blowout earnings, while regional lenders spooked investors about risks lurking in their loan books. In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Zions Bancorporation disclosed that it believes there were misrepresentations by certain borrowers who did business with its California Bank & Trust unit.

Instead, what we do have is quite a bit of moving and shaking in the corporate world. In banking today, regional bank Fifth Third ( Nasdaq: FITB) says it will buy rival Comerica ( NYSE: CMA) in a $10.9 billion, all-stock transaction. If the merger goes through it will create America's ninth largest bank. Fifth Third stock is up 1.5% on the news, and Comerica shares are up more than 17%.

Javier Milei threw himself into Donald Trump's arms and was welcomed. Last week, the U.S. president offered Argentina an unprecedented $20 billion rescue package, in addition to an open-ended line of credit and even the possibility that the United States might purchase its debt bonds. True to form, Trump did not hold back: he said Milei was a truly fantastic and powerful leader and, perhaps misinformed about the Argentine electoral calendar, even offered him his complete and total endorsement for re-election as president.

The U.S. may soon scrap the penal import tariff on Indian goods and also cut the reciprocal tariff to 10-15% from the existing 25%, India's Chief Economist Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday. "My personal confidence is that in the next couple of months, if not earlier, we will see a resolution to at least to the extra penal tariff of 25%," Nageswaran said at an event in Kolkata.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto abruptly replaced Sri Mulyani Indrawati as finance minister, risking renewed financial turmoil for Southeast Asia's biggest economy following violent protests in recent weeks against his administration. Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, who has served as chairman of the Deposit Insurance Corporation since 2020, was sworn in as finance minister at a hastily-arranged ceremony late Monday. He said he is "a market person" who will keep Indonesia fiscally healthy.

Nvidia Corp. plans to resume sales of its H20 AI chip to China after securing Washington's assurances that such shipments would get approved, marking a significant policy shift.

Because Iran's options in terms of screwing up the oil market are actually quite limited.

The bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities has caught traders off guard, as financial markets showed unexpected calm due to uncertainties surrounding future retaliation and the timing of the strikes.

Donald Trump will undoubtedly proclaim the temporary truce in the US-China trade war as a victory, but the markets view it as a capitulation.

Both countries represented their national interest very well," Bessent said. "We both have an interest in balanced trade, the U.S. will continue moving towards that.

If loose monetary policy were thrown into an already unstable inflationary and tariff mix, the dollar would fall further, the flight from US assets would accelerate...