The major index futures are indicating a nearly unchanged opening on Tuesday, suggesting that stocks may exhibit limited movement following a predominantly positive close in the prior session. Market participants might exhibit caution in executing substantial trades as they monitor the situation in Washington, where legislators once again did not succeed in passing a temporary spending bill last night.
Although traders have mostly dismissed the government shutdown in recent sessions, the ensuing absence of significant U.S. economic data could lead some investors to remain on the sidelines. Comments from various Federal Reserve officials are likely to draw interest, as market participants seek insights regarding the future trajectory of interest rates. In light of the varied outcomes observed in last Friday’s session, equities generally trended upward throughout the trading day on Monday. The recent upward movement has led to the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 achieving new record closing highs.
The Nasdaq increased by 161.81 points, representing a 0.7 percent rise, reaching 22,941.67. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 saw an uptick of 24.49 points, or 0.4 percent, closing at 6,740.28. In contrast, the Dow experienced a slight decline, falling by 63.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to settle at 46,694.97. The markets demonstrated notable strength, primarily driven by a rally in semiconductor stocks, as evidenced by the Philadelphia Semiconductor index, which surged by 2.9 percent to achieve a record closing high. Advanced Micro Devices propelled the sector upward, surging by 23.7 percent following the chipmaker’s announcement of a 6 gigawatt agreement to energize OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure utilizing multiple generations of AMD Instinct GPUs. Under the terms of the agreement, AMD has granted OpenAI a warrant for as many as 160 million shares of AMD common stock, designed to vest upon the achievement of certain milestones.
Gold stocks experienced notable strength as the price of the precious metal surged, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index rising by 1.9 percent. There was notable strength in software stocks, whereas housing and commercial real estate stocks experienced a significant decline throughout the session. Meanwhile, traders persisted in dismissing worries regarding the economic ramifications of the ongoing government shutdown.