AMD, OpenAI Deal May Lead To Initial Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Monday, with stocks likely to move to the upside following the mixed performance seen during last Friday's session.

Technology stocks may help lead an early advance, as reflected by the 0.9 percent jump being shown by the Nasdaq 100 futures.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are soaring by 35.7 percent in pre-market trading after the chipmaker announced a 6 gigawatt agreement to power OpenAI's next-generation AI infrastructure across multiple generations of AMD Instinct GPUs.

As part of the agreement, AMD has issued OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares of AMD common stock, structured to vest as specific milestones are achieved.

Optimism about a wave of merger and acquisition activity may also generate early buying interest after Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) agreed to acquire fellow regional bank Comerica (CMA) in an all-stock transaction valued at $10.9 billion.

Shares of Comerica are surging by 14.1 percent in pre-market trading following news of the deal, with stockholders set to receive 1.8663 Fifth Third shares for each Comerica share, representing $82.88 per share as of Fifth Third's closing price on Friday.

Meanwhile, traders continue to shrug off concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing government shutdown, which enters its sixth day amid little signs of progress toward a deal on a temporary spending bill.

After moving mostly higher over the past few sessions, stocks saw further upside in early trading on Friday but gave back ground over the course of the day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session before eventually closing mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 63.54 points or 0.3 percent to 22,780.51, the S&P 500 crept up 0.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,715.79 and the Dow climbed 238.56 points or 0.5 percent to 46,758.28.

Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages posted strong gains for the week. The Nasdaq shot up by 1.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both jumped by 1.1 percent.

The Dow and the S&P 500 closed higher for the sixth consecutive session, reaching new record closing highs. The continued advance by the Dow partly reflected strong gains by UnitedHealth (UNH), Travelers (TRV) and Caterpillar (CAT).

Meanwhile, the pullback by the Nasdaq came amid weakness among some big-name tech stocks such as Palantir (PLTR), which tumbled by 7.5 percent.

The plunge by Palantir came after a report from Reuters citing a recent internal U.S. Army memo said a modernization of the army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) also slumped by 1.4 percent, while shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slid by 0.7 percent after ending Thursday's trading at a record closing high.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has led to the indefinite delay of key U.S. economic data, including the closely watched monthly jobs report.

However, weak data from non-government sources has increased confidence the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months.

After payroll processor ADP released a report earlier this week showing an unexpected decrease in private sector employment, the Institute for Supply Management released a report this morning showing a bigger than expected decline by its reading on service sector activity.

The ISM said its services PMI fell to 50.0 in September from 52.0 in August, with a reading of 50.0 serving as the breakeven point between expansion and contraction. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 51.7.

Reflecting the lackluster close by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Healthcare stocks showed a notable move to the upside, however, with the Dow Jones Health Care Index climbing by 1.1 percent to its best closing level in over six months.

Telecom, banking and airline stocks also saw some strength on the day, while retail and semiconductor stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.71 to $61.59 a barrel after falling $0.40 to $60.88 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $40.80 to $3,908.90 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are surging $45.90 to $3,954.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 149.90 yen versus the 147.44 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1683 compared to last Friday's $1.1613.

Asia

Asian shares fell in thin holiday trading on Monday, with mainland China, Taiwan and South Korean markets closed for holidays.

Japanese markets bucked the weak trend, long-term bonds tumbled, and the yen touched a fresh low since early August against the U.S. dollar as pro-business leader Sanae Takaichi's victory in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership race stoked bets on a revival in big spending and loose monetary policy.

The Nikkei 225 Index spiked 4.8 percent to a record high of 47,944.76, while the broader Topix index settled 3.1 higher at 3,226.06.

Defense-related shares topped the gainers list, with Kawasaki Heavy Industries soaring 9.4 percent and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rallying 11.2 percent.

Automakers Nissan Motor, Honda and Toyota surged 4-5 percent after reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering significant tariff relief for U.S. auto production.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent to 26,957.77 as the U.S. government shutdown entered its second week. U.S. Democrats stand firm on healthcare benefits, while President Trump threatens layoffs and budget cuts.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index hit a fresh August high before reversing course to end marginally lower. While financials declined on interest-rate jitters, soaring gold prices boosted mining stocks.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index ended down 0.2 percent at 13,489.24 as investors pondered the potential impact of Trump's tariff policies and attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Europe

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Monday, with French stocks under pressure after newly appointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned just hours after unveiling his cabinet.

Lecornu had faced the daunting task of finding approval in a deeply divided parliament for an austerity budget for next year.

Meanwhile, a survey showed investor confidence in the Eurozone has experienced a marked improvement in October 2025. Eurozone retail sales data is due later in the day.

While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.2 percent.

Hannover Re has rallied. The world's third-largest reinsurer said it would distribute a higher proportion of its net profits to shareholders as dividends under a new payout policy.

German wind turbine maker Nordex has also moved to the upside after securing two orders in Ukraine from Okko Group with a total capacity of 188.8 MW.

On the other hand, French carmaker Renault has moved sharply lower after reports that it may cut 3,000 jobs worldwide.

Aston Martin has also plummeted after the British carmaker warned of losses and lower sales.

French banks BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale have also moved notably lower as the country experiences a major political crisis.

U.S. Economic News

No major U.S. economic data is scheduled to be released today.