Dow Jones| Nasdaq | US Stock Market Today | Highlights: Nasdaq ends lower as oil prices surge ahead of earnings, economic data

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Business News›Markets›US Stocks›Wall St Guide›Dow Jones| Nasdaq | US Stock Market Today | Highlights: Nasdaq ends lower as oil prices surge ahead of earnings, economic data LIVE BLOG Dow Jones Today Highlights: US stocks end lower as oil prices rise. Synopsis Dow Jones Today | US Stock Market Highlights: The Nasdaq composite closed lower on Monday as oil prices jumped nearly $2 a barrelafter attacks on a Saudi airport, and investors waited for banks to kick off the third-quarter earnings season and for economic data this week. The S&P 500 lost 3.75 points, or 0.05%, to end at 7,807.79 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 120.17 points, or 0.44%, to 27,246.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198.22 points, or 0.38%, to 51,853.17. 1 New Update The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has sued Amazon in Boston federal court, alleging Amazon Web Services' data security technology infringes two of its patents. Oil prices climbed on Monday as attacks on Saudi Arabia overshadowed hopes for supply improvements, and expectations for higher US interest rates to fight inflation drove the dollar higher on a narrowly mixed day for global stocks. The action came after US President Donald Trump hailed fresh Russian diesel exports and a Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire. President Donald Trump's envoys told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations after the failure of previous efforts to launch sustained talks to end the war, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner told the Ukrainians in a meeting in Miami that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to his 4 1/2-year-old war in Ukraine and that the deal announced last week could help restart trilateral talks, said two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The dollar held at an 18-month high on Monday, supported by safe-haven demand as attacks escalated in the Middle East over the weekend, keeping investors cautious ahead of key US inflation data later this week. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against six others, was up 0.37% at 102.58, highest since April 2025. US natural gas futures settled down by about 2% on Monday on forecasts for milder weather and less demand next week than previously expected. Limiting losses was a continued drop in daily output to a four-month low and an increase in daily gas flows to liquefied natural gas export plants to a five-month high. Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 5.3 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $3.167 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). Rising interest rates have put US Treasury yields more in line with historical norms, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Monday, noting that if home mortgage rates fell back to 3% it would likely mean something had gone wrong in the economy. Gold prices eased after touching a one-week high on Monday, pressured by a firmer dollar and higher oil prices, while investors awaited US inflation data for clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory. Spot gold slipped 0.6% to $4,169.10 per ounce by 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT), having hit its highest level since October 2 earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery settled 0.6% lower at $4,190.60 per ounce. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Monday the US central bank should move "relatively quickly" to a restrictive monetary policy stance in order to control inflation she feels has become more broad-based and is starting to influence firms' price-setting plans. "I see inflation pressures as relatively broad-based rather than concentrated in one component. Energy has been making headlines this year, with prices rising for oil, retail gasoline, and diesel, but it isn't the whole story," Hammack said in remarks prepared for delivery to a National Association for Business Economics conference. Her remarks cited recent conversations in her district with firms planning to boost prices faster than their input costs are rising. US energy regulators said the country's biggest power grid -- PJM Interconnection -- can begin developing a database on Monday to track data centers, whose rapid expansion has driven up prices and threatened the reliability of the grid covering 67 million people, according to a regulatory filing. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in an order filed on Friday, rejected other central parts of a plan by PJM to manage data centers by temporarily shutting off grid power to the server warehouses to avoid blackouts in times of high energy demand. Shares of major US banks are hovering near correction territory as the sector prepares to kick off earnings season on Tuesday, sharpening investor focus on executives’ outlook for American consumers as long-term borrowing costs remain at multi-decade highs. Wall Street’s biggest banks are expected to report nearly $19 billion in combined stock-trading revenue for the quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Lending is forecast to increase from a year earlier, while credit quality is expected to remain broadly stable. Elon Musk has spent roughly $366 million on the 2026 midterm elections so far, $276 million just since July, trying to help Republicans retain control of Congress, even as Democrats' chances of retaking the US House and Senate have improved. Musk's largess, which was reported earlier by the New York Times, makes the world's richest person likely the single-biggest political donor in this year's races, according to campaign finance records. Microsoft shares rose 1.2%, lifting its market value above $4 trillion for the first time in a year after the company unveiled plans for a major rollout of its in-house AI chips. Salesforce gained 2.4% following a double upgrade by BofA Global Research. Getty Images said on Monday it agreed with key stakeholders on a balance-sheet restructuring that includes new equity funding and debt reduction, and will become a privately held company after the deal closes. President Donald Trump on Monday defended a diesel oil deal he made with Russia as lawmakers from both parties complained the agreement appears to violate US law barring imports of Russian energy until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine. Trump said he is taking steps to bring down high fuel prices, which are jeopardizing Republican chances in the November 3 midterm elections. Prices have shot up since he launched a war against Iran seven months ago but he blames Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries as a leading factor. US natural gas futures fell about 3% on Monday on forecasts for less demand next week than previously expected, and a drop in spot prices in Pennsylvania to multi-year lows. That price decline came despite a continued drop in daily output to a four-month low and a rise in daily gas flows to liquefied natural gas export plants to a five-month high. Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 9.4 cents, or 2.9%, to $3.126 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). Bank of America said on Monday it expects gold prices to average $4,000 an ounce in the fourth quarter and $4,813 an ounce in 2027, adding near-term headwinds will persist until risks from rising oil prices linked to the Iran war ease. The bank said gold has been under pressure in recent weeks despite increased holdings in exchange-traded funds, and that prices could come under further pressure if investors start selling. The sharp rise in long-term US Treasury yields has spurred mortgage-related hedging that adds selling pressure to an already strained bond market, though the impact is likely smaller than in past selloffs. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields have surged about 130 basis points and 30-year yields have climbed 100 basis points since late February, reflecting a war-driven oil-price spike that has kindled expectations for multiple Federal Reserve rate hikes over the next 12 months. The dollar held near an 18-month high on Monday, supported by safe-haven demand as an escalating Middle East conflict kept investors cautious ahead of key US inflation data later this week. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against six others, was up 0.16% at 102.39, just below last week's 18-month high. Goldman Sachs on Monday upgraded its three-month view on global equities to "overweight" from "neutral", saying earnings growth remains supportive for equities and valuations have become more attractive ahead of the earnings season. Gold prices eased after touching a one-week high on Monday, pressured by a firmer dollar and higher oil prices, while investors awaited US inflation data for clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory. Spot gold slipped 0.5% to $4,172.36 per ounce by 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 GMT), having hit its highest level since October 2 earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery dropped 0.5% to $4,196.20 per ounce. The hurdle for continued AI-driven equity gains is strikingly high. And with cracks starting to appear in the seemingly impenetrable tech edifice, there are mounting signs AI risk is now far more than just a case of "bad vibes." While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed to fresh highs last week, a string of negative headlines related to AI – from a shelved initial public offering (IPO) in Australia to reports that ChatGPT maker OpenAI's revenue isfalling short of earlier estimates – suggests markets could soon run into some serious obstacles. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92 points, or 0.18%, at the open to 51,746.95. The S&P 500 rose 4.18 points, or 0.05%, at the open to 7,815.72, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 12.89 points, or 0.05%, to 27,353.28 at the opening bell. Microsoft said Monday it will roll out its in-house Maia artificial intelligence chips on a massive scale starting in 2027, making them the main hardware for running AI across its products -- a move that could reduce its reliance on Nvidia. Chips like Maia are the technology inside the vast data centers powering the AI boom, and Microsoft plans to deploy enough of them to draw several gigawatts of electricity -- roughly the output of several large nuclear reactors. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs last week, but the Russell 2000 index of smaller US companies has been heading the other way. However, this widely followed small-cap index reached a significant zone of support, and bounced, signaling it may now have room for a greater rebound, technical analysis suggests. Salesforce gained 4.2% after BofA Global Research double-upgraded its rating to "buy" from "underperform". Treasury yields climbed to 24-year highs earlier this month as elevated energy prices fuelled concerns that inflation could remain persistent, keeping Federal Reserve policymakers hawkish and weighing on equity valuations. The US Treasury market is closed on Monday for Columbus Day. The three major US indexes ended higher last week as optimism over AI-driven third-quarter earnings and hopes that the Federal Reserve may avoid near-term rate hikes supported sentiment. Although gains remain concentrated among a handful of AI-linked megacaps, profit growth and a less aggressive Fed could give the four-year bull market more room to run. The third-quarter earnings season begins on Tuesday, with Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase among the first major US banks to report. Analysts expect aggregate S&P 500 earnings to surge 30.6%, according to LSEG IBES data. Wall Street futures are subdued on Monday as investors track oil prices and geopolitical developments ahead of major bank earnings and inflation data that could shape the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook. Dow E-minis rise 30 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 E-minis edge up 2.25 points, or 0.03%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis fall 73 points, or 0.23%.