U.S. equities ended mostly lower as investors weighed Federal Reserve signals and continued sector rotation. The S&P 500 closed at 6,637.97, down 0.28% for the session, reflecting profit-taking in leading technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 46,121.28, a drop of 171.50 points or 0.37%. The Nasdaq Composite ended at 22,497.86, down 0.33%, maintaining relative stability despite mixed performance among big tech. The Russell 2000 settled at 2,434.98, losing 0.92% as small caps faced headwinds. The overall tone was cautious, led by weakness in growth equities and resilient gains in energy stocks correlated with oil price strength
Macroeconomic Reports & FOMC Actions
Markets absorbed the Federal Reserve’s September minutes, which confirmed a 25 basis point rate cut leaving rates in the 4–4.25% range. Policymakers stressed risks to employment and persistent inflation, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.3% in August. The Fed signaled data-dependent decisions going forward, dampening expectations for aggressive cuts and fostering more cautious economic optimism.
Yield Curve & Interest Rates
The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.614%, while the 10-year closed at 4.512% suggesting reduced recession fears but highlighting uncertainty about the timing and scale of future Fed actions
Commodity and Crypto Closing Prices
Gold finished at $3764.70 per ounce, -1.34% and silver closed at $44.105 per ounce,-1.13. Oil prices surged to 2.22% to $64.82 per barrel, supporting energy sector gains. Bitcoin (BTC) bounced +1.71% to $113,630.
Tariffs and Trade
No new tariff actions emerged from Washington, but anticipation remains high for future updates as President Trump’s trade and tariff policy continues to cast a shadow over global growth projections.
Key Stock Highlights
Apple (AAPL)
Apple moved down 0.83% to $252.31, following the broader rotation out of large-cap technology, with no company-specific headlines to sway sentiment.
Broadcom (AVGO)
Broadcom gained .11% to $339.31 as investors cheered strong Q4 guidance for AI revenue, projected to soar 66% year over year amid robust demand for its VMware and software integration offerings.
NVIDIA (NVDA)
Nvidia shares fell today by .82% to $176.97 after recently announcing a multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, pushing the stock to a new record. The rise was partially tempered by profit-taking from directors but driven by the company’s growing role in AI infrastructure.
Tesla (TSLA)
Tesla added 3.98%, closing at a new high of $442.79. Investor enthusiasm was fueled by CEO Elon Musk’s major stock purchase and upbeat outlook for its robotaxi and European EV operations.
Meta (META)
Meta platforms traded sideways to slightly higher adding +,79% to $760.66, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Instagram now serves 3 billion monthly active users. The company deepened its data center expansion and filed to sell wholesale power for its AI compute infrastructure.
McDonald’s (MCD)
McDonald’s shares were steady and eked out a +.38% gain to $304.33 amid intensified promotions and the reintroduction of the Monopoly sweepstakes. Its valuation and dividend yield attracted renewed analyst favor.
Intel (INTC)
Intel jumped by 6.41% to $31.22 buoyed by Micron’s sector optimism and reports of fresh strategic investment negotiations with Apple, marking a shift in sentiment following last week’s Nvidia partnership announcement.
MongoDB (MDB)
MongoDB could to build on its YTD momentum closing off 1.15% to $315.30. This year they have enjoyed continued upgrades and strong adoption of cloud-native database platforms for AI, lifting shares further. The company’s improving margins and technical expansion stood out in a cautious tech landscape.
Oracle (ORCL)
Oracle declined nearly 1.71% to $308.46 after unveiling plans to raise $15 billion with a 40-year bond, aiming to finance AI and cloud buildouts for clients such as OpenAI and Meta. Investors weighed near-term dilution risk against longer-term infrastructure upsides.
Opendoor (OPEN)
Opendoor shares rebounded nicely by 16.24% to $8.23 and are up a meaty 4.14.37% YTD.
Rio Tinto Group (RIO) & Roche
Rio Tinto closed up .47% to $63.87.
Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC)
LAC shares closed at $6.01, +95.77% as a report surfaced that the Trump administration is looking at taking a stake in this operator of what is set to be the largest lithium mine in the US.
