Market Wrap
Published
The S&P 500 closed up 0.4%, and the striking feature of the session was how little Middle East escalation mattered to the tape. Iran's navy said US forces struck its Konark naval base, Houthi forces claimed fresh attacks on Saudi infrastructure, explosions hit Jeddah and Riyadh, and Brent still finished the day 0.28% lower at $109.55 a barrel. Equities leaned into risk instead, led by chips and data-center names.
Technology was the standout sector, up 1.5%, with Western Digital, Lam Research, Micron and Seagate all gaining more than 3%. Consumer Discretionary rose 1.8% on Amazon's 5.1% jump and a 3.8% advance in Tesla. On the other side, Utilities fell 2.0% as French bond stress pushed global rate-sensitive sectors lower, with Eversource down 3.5% and Constellation Energy off 3.0%. Real Estate dropped 1.2%, led lower by SL Green's 4.3% decline, and Financials slipped 0.8%, with Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo among the weakest large banks. France drove a separate thread of the day's price action: 10-year yields jumped toward their highest level since 2002 and posted their largest one-day rise since March 2025, after weekend riots prompted Paris authorities to impose curfews around Place de la Republique and Les Halles and Prime Minister Lecornu said he is prepared to declare a state of emergency. Polling showing Mélenchon well ahead of Le Pen among younger voters complicated the usual narrative that unrest benefits the right, even as the bond market's unease centers on debt plans like his. The euro slipped 0.4% to $1.1191 on the unrest. Diplomacy around Ukraine and Iran stayed active without resolving. Trump said he is making "great progress" on Russia-Ukraine talks but will not sign a document that could drive Moscow from the table, floated a trilateral meeting with Russia and China, and said it is time for someone other than Zelenskyy to negotiate for Ukraine. Iran's Aref said Tehran has no choice but to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz while offering to facilitate transit for friendly nations, and Energy Secretary Wright said sanctions on Russian crude remain intact aside from a narrow diesel exemption.
Company News
- Fifth Third Bancorp reported Q3 EPS of $1.13, beating estimates by $0.16, though revenue of $3.28 billion missed the $3.41 billion expected.
- Cleveland-Cliffs posted Q3 EPS of $0.28, ahead of estimates, and guided fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA to roughly $715 million while idling galvanizing lines at its Stelco operations in Canada.
- Crown Holdings beat on both lines for Q3 but guided fourth-quarter EPS below consensus, narrowing full-year guidance to $8.35-$8.45.
- W. R. Berkley reported Q3 EPS of $1.17, a penny ahead of expectations, on $3.74 billion in revenue.
- TTM Technologies agreed to buy MKS's Ophir Optics business for roughly $650 million.
- Schneider Electric launched a 6 billion euro capital raise to fund its purchase of PTC.
- Strategy raised its buyback authorization to $3.0 billion and added 267 bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 848,517.
- Merck KGaA agreed to acquire Silence Therapeutics for $20 per American depositary share.
- KKR is selling Infinity Transportation to Ares for approximately $2.9 billion.
- Moderna shares jumped on election outlook and healthcare spending expectations, alongside gains in Progyny, Azenta, Oscar Health and Agilon Health.
- Goldman Sachs upgraded CoreWeave to buy, and neocloud names including CoreWeave, Nebius and Iren rallied in a session dominated by semiconductor and data-center strength.
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