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Markets·Friday, Oct. 9·After the close

Big tech lifts stocks as AI worries ease

Stocks rose Friday as Microsoft and Amazon bounced back from an AI scare earlier in the week, leaving the S&P 500 just shy of its high.

Written and checked by software

The story

Big tech led stocks higher Friday as worries about AI eased. Yahoo Finance reported that the giant tech names pulled the market up after the OpenAI revenue scare earlier in the week. Amazon rose about 3.3%. Microsoft rose about 2.4%. The S&P 500 gained about 0.6%.

A few giant companies make up a big share of the S&P 500, so when they climb, the whole index tends to follow. Not every tech name joined in. Apple and Nvidia both slipped. The S&P 500 ended a little short of its high, so it wasn't a record close.

Oil held flat at around $91 a barrel. Bloomberg reported that Hurricane Isaias shut nearly three-quarters of Gulf oil output. But Trump said Putin agreed to release Russian diesel onto world markets, and that offset it. Diesel and heating oil are close cousins, so that tug of war matters to Mainers heading into heating season. The interest rate on 10-year government bonds edged up to about 5.24%, Bloomberg reported, because high energy costs keep inflation worries alive.

Also today

  • Verizon slumped for much of the day after SpaceX's airwaves deal pushed Starlink deeper into the phone business, CNBC reported.
  • Stocks rose even though Reuters reported that Americans feel gloomier about the economy than almost ever, frustrated with how things are going.
  • Gold rose about 1.5%, to around $4,220 an ounce, and silver and copper rose too. No headline explained it, so it probably reflects broad buying of raw materials.

Storylines

  • AI trade: Tech rebounded from the OpenAI revenue scare, with Microsoft and Amazon out front.
  • Energy shock (Iran war): Tanker attacks near Hormuz hit a wartime high, Hurricane Isaias shut in Gulf oil, and Delta cut its outlook on fuel costs.
  • Fed independence: The White House formed a committee to probe Fed Governor Lisa Cook, with a hearing set for Nov. 5.
  • High long-term rates: The 10-year rate sits around 5.24% on inflation worry.

Temperature

Warm ยท upbeat: Most stocks rose, the market's fear gauge stayed low, and the S&P 500 finished within half a percent of its high.

Where this came from

Written by software from that day's market data and the headlines cited below, checked against the numbers by code, and published without a person's review. Nothing here is advice.