Stock Market News Today: S&P 500 Down Slightly Pre-Market
As of 7:20 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures are indicating a slightly negative open. Futures are down .05% for the S&P 500 while the Nasdaq-100 futures are down .09%. Let’s look at some of…
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Live Updates: Nasdaq Composite Jumps in PM Trading with AI Stocks Gaining (ASML, AMAT, LCRX)
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Newest firstStocks Keep Up Gains In Late Trading
As of 3 p.m. ET, most stocks are still in there green on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up .83% while the Nasdaq is up .44%.
Some of the most notable performers today include:
- Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE: NCLH): Up 10.3%
- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL): Up 7.5%
- Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW): Up 4.66%
- Palantir (NYSE: PLTR): Up 4.45%
Cruise lines are once again up across the board after a major sector upgrade yesterday. Both Corning and Palantir are benefitting from rising expectations for data center and AI demand in 2025.
Afternoon Update: Markets Jump to Solid Gains
As of 1 p.m. ET, stocks are having a solid day across the board.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up .77%
- S&P 500: Up .46%
- Nasdaq: Up .35%
The Nasdaq-100 is slightly trailing other indexes after significant outperformance yesterday. Shares of Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL) are weighing on the index as the megacap is down 2.25%. Top Nasdaq performers include:
- Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM): Up 5.39%
- Super Micro Computer (Nasdaq: SMCI): Up 5.05%
- Zscalar (Nasdaq: ZS): Up 4.43%
We noted in our morning update that strong revenue figures from Taiwan Semiconductor would be a positive for AI stocks, and companies that sell equipment to Taiwan Semi like Lam Research, KLA Corporation, Applied Materials, and ASML are all seeing strong returns today.
Nasdaq Turns Slightly Positive
At a little past 10 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq has turned slightly green for the day, with a .01% gain. After strong gains yesterday, cruise companies like Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE: NCLH) and Carnival (NYSE: CCL) are among the market’s biggest gainers. The cruise lines are up 7.8% and 4.7%, respectively.
ALAB is a Nasdaq Stock to Watch
It has been a tough year for Astera Labs (Nasdaq: ALAB), the networking upstart that IPOd in March. After hitting highs of more than $95 per share, its stock recently slumped as low as $36. However, Astera Labs is set to see big gains today. The company is up 15% in premarket thanks to the announcement of a PCIe Gen 6 switch that investors are betting will help the company pick up share in the AI market.
Last quarter, Broadcom said their Ethernet networking grew at 4X, which was even higher than the growth rate the company saw in AI accelerators. AI networking is one of the fastest growing areas in the market today.
Tesla's China Sales Up 19.2% In September
Data from the China Passenger Car Association show that Tesla‘s (Nasdaq: TSLA) sales were up 19.2% year-over-year in September. Shares in Tesla are little changed on the news as the market is more focused on the company’s major robotaxi event scheduled for tomorrow.
Live coverage has ended. The full story is below.
Full Coverage
The story so farIn premarket trading, Nasdaq-100 Futures are down about .17% as of 8:25 a.m. ET. The major storylines impacting the index today will include signs the DOJ may get more aggressive on large technology stocks and also positive news from the artificial intelligence supply chain.
Premarket Futures (As of 8:25 a.m. ET)
- Nasdaq: -$34.25 (-.17%)
- S&P 500: -$2.75 (-.05%)
- Dow Jones: -$7.00 (-.02%)
DOJ May Target Google Breakup
The primary news story that will weigh on larger technology stocks is a filing from the DOJ that shows it’s considering breaking up Google as a remedy in its continuing case against the company. Google parent company Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) is down .64% in early trading. The DOJ has been active in investigating nearly every major technology company.
While the potential for a breakup is a scary headline, it’s important to remember that’s just one potential remedy and the case may continue to draw out for years. The most likely outcome from the case continues to be that the DOJ will force Google to cease agreements that make it the default search engine on smartphones from companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung. That outcome would also hurt Apple as it collects tens of billions in annual high-margin revenue from Google that would be at risk of disappearing.
AI Chip Demand Stays Hot
Yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.45% thanks to strong gains from AI stocks like NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) and Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO). There’s more good news in the AI space this morning as Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) released September revenue figures that came in ahead of expectations.
The company reported September revenue that was up 39.6% above the prior year. In total, its third-quarter revenue totaled $23.38 billion, which is ahead of the company’s high-end guidance. As Taiwan Semiconductor has a 90% market share in the advanced chips used for AI processing, their financial releases are a closely watched proxy for broad demand in the AI space.
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Eric Bleeker
Eric Bleeker has been investing for more than 20 years. He began his career working at Microsoft before joining Motley Fool, one of the largest publishers of financial research. In his 15 years at Motley Fool Eric served as the General Manager for Fool.com and led coverage in the Technology & Telecom sector. In addition, he was a featured columnist and has hosted dozens of investing seminars attended by more than a million total investors. Eric has more than 1,000 financial bylines to his name and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fox Business, and many other leading publications. He is currently focused on artificial intelligence investing and is a CFA Charterholoder.
