The US stock market showed minimal movement as investors awaited major tech company earnings and focused on the approaching US presidential election. Recent data showed October ADP employment numbers surpassed expectations, while Q3 GDP growth fell short of forecasts. The Dow Jones rose slightly by 26.81 points to 42,259.86, while the Nasdaq fell by 10.34 points to 18,702.41, and the S&P 500 declined by 2.38 points to 5,830.54. The Nasdaq reached a new intraday high during the session.
Investors are particularly focused on the earnings reports from major tech firms, with five of the seven tech giants releasing their results this week. Alphabet (GOOGL, Financial) announced post-market results exceeding analyst expectations, driven by significant growth in cloud revenue. In contrast, AMD's stock (AMD) fell as its Q4 revenue guidance underwhelmed investors. Upcoming earnings include Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) and, later in the week, Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).
On the economic front, US GDP grew by 2.8% in Q3, slightly below the 2.9% forecast, yet displaying resilience amid global challenges and election uncertainties. Consumer spending saw the largest increase since early 2023, rising by 3.7%. Additionally, October's ADP employment reported a significant increase of 233,000 jobs, well above the anticipated 111,000, despite adverse weather conditions in the southeastern US.
The upcoming US election is another area of focus, with Goldman Sachs analysts suggesting that market fears about election-result delays may be overstated. UBS, however, cautions against potential election-induced market volatility.
NVIDIA recently addressed high-risk security vulnerabilities in its GPU drivers. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted the proliferation of humanoid robots in the future, potentially contributing to Tesla's growth. BYD surpassed Tesla in quarterly revenue, while GitHub introduced a new AI tool aimed at simplifying software development.
Other notable developments include lawsuits against Meta Platforms in Japan over fraudulent ads and ongoing investigations into major US banks regarding the payment platform Zelle. Some earnings results, such as those from Eli Lilly, fell short of expectations, while others like UBS and Snap exceeded them.
