Politics · Business · Technology · World · U.S. · Entertainment
Business
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 1,570 points — about 3 percent, its best day since April 2025 — as falling oil prices lifted stocks. The S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent.
Oracle canceled a five-year, $7 billion agreement to lease up to 100,000 advanced AI chips to Tencent. Analysts warn Democratic control of Congress could restrict data center development and threaten the roughly $900 billion AI capital spending cycle.
Memory chip stocks fell again in overnight trading after a turbulent session, with Qualcomm's disappointing smartphone sales adding to worries about weakening consumer electronics demand.
AMD's third-quarter revenue rose 45 percent to $13.38 billion, beating expectations, with data center revenue up 97 percent to a record $8.55 billion. The company also disclosed it is acquiring AI inference chip startup Taalas for approximately $2.9 billion.
Apple posted fiscal fourth-quarter sales of $114.48 billion and profit of $2.10 a share, both above expectations, but warned that rising memory-chip costs would squeeze the December quarter. Palantir's revenue rose 96 percent, yet its stock also fell.
Qualcomm beat overall earnings estimates, but a sharp drop in handset revenue and a profit forecast below Wall Street expectations sent its shares down more than 6% in extended trading.
Arm Holdings forecast third-quarter revenue only marginally ahead of Wall Street estimates, disappointing investors who had hoped its push into AI data centers would deliver a bigger payoff.
Uber reported third-quarter gross bookings of $59.8 billion, up 20%, and record profitability on an operating basis, though an investment loss cut reported net income sharply.
McDonald's beat profit expectations in the third quarter, but U.S. comparable sales fell 0.2% as financially pressured consumers cut back on restaurant visits.
CVS Health will separate its retail pharmacies from its Aetna insurance and Caremark pharmacy-benefit businesses, unwinding the healthcare conglomerate it spent years building.
Private employers added 86,000 jobs in October, beating forecasts, as services hiring led the gains and professional and business services fell for a third straight month.
U.S. services growth slowed to 54.5 in October, its slowest pace in three months, as new orders cooled and input prices stayed elevated at 73.0.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $105.0 billion in September, but imports hit a record $426.6 billion as AI data-center spending drove a surge in computer imports.
Gold jumped back above $4,000 and Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000 after the midterm elections, in a broad post-election rally across gold, silver and crypto.
W.W. Grainger beat third-quarter earnings estimates as sales rose 11.3% to $5.18 billion, and raised its full-year sales and profit guidance.
Shopify beat earnings and revenue estimates in the third quarter, but shares fell as gross merchandise volume and subscription revenue came in below some forecasts.
Pfizer reported third-quarter revenue of $16.6 billion and raised its full-year guidance, as revenue from launched and acquired products grew 32% operationally.
U.S. job openings rose to 7.523 million in September, beating forecasts, while layoffs fell to their lowest level in about a year and a half and quits hit a near three-and-a-half-year high.
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4.00% at its October meeting, with two members dissenting in favor of a quarter-point increase and a hawkish tone on inflation.
U.S. manufacturing expanded for a 10th straight month in October, with the ISM index rising to 55.5% and production reaching its highest level since November 2021.