Stocks Slip as Oil Holds Near $106; Energy Rises, Chips Lag

It's Thursday, October eighth. This is Trade and Ticker, the lunch report. Here's your midday check on U.S. stocks.

Three things still matter into the afternoon. First, oil, with Brent crude still up around five percent near one hundred six dollars a barrel after new tanker attacks in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, plus Hurricane Isaias shutting in about a quarter of U.S. Gulf production. Second, Treasury yields and the thirty-year bond auction that just wrapped at one o'clock Eastern. Third, how stocks handle another day of pressure on chip names, with Delta Air Lines reporting tomorrow morning and fuel costs front and center.

Here's the picture at midday. Stocks are lower for a second straight day, and tech is leading the way down. As of about one o'clock Eastern, the Dow is down about four-tenths of a percent, or roughly two hundred points. The S-and-P is down about four-tenths of a percent. The Nasdaq is down about half a percent to a bit more. Small companies are having a tougher day again, with the Russell two thousand down about one percent. Energy is the bright spot on the board. Growth and chips are the drag.

Oil is still the big story. Brent is holding near one hundred six dollars, up about five percent on the day. U.S. crude is around ninety-three dollars, also up about five percent. Attacks on tankers in the Gulf and Hormuz picked up again, and Hurricane Isaias is forcing more offshore shut-ins. Higher oil feeds inflation worry, and that is helping keep long-term yields elevated. The ten-year Treasury yield touched about five-point-three-six percent earlier, its highest since two thousand two, before easing back to around five-point-three. The thirty-year has been trading near five-point-seven percent. Weekly jobless claims came in at one hundred ninety-seven thousand, a touch below forecasts, so the labor market still looks tight enough that the Fed can keep hiking on the table.

Now the movers. Energy is higher across the board. Exxon Mobil is up about three percent, Chevron is up a bit more than three percent, and Marathon Petroleum and APA are each up more than four percent. PepsiCo is up about two percent after beating on profit and revenue this morning, even though it cut its full-year earnings outlook and said the North America turnaround is taking longer. Chipotle jumped more than six percent after a report that Starbucks has explored buying the burrito chain. Starbucks is down about five percent on that same news.

In tech, the A-I trade is under pressure again. Broadcom is lower after the Wall Street Journal report that it is arranging more than fifty billion dollars in financing tied to custom chips for OpenAI. Nvidia, A-M-D, Micron, and Marvell are all down, and Intel is among the weaker chip names. GlobalFoundries is a standout on the upside, up nearly five percent after a multiyear manufacturing deal with Taiwan Semiconductor. Haemonetics is still ripping higher, up around sixteen percent, after its customer C-S-L said it expects to finish rolling out Haemonetics' plasma collection system across U.S. centers by the end of twenty twenty-seven. And Palantir is up more than two percent after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy.

After the close tonight, there is no big household-name earnings report that looks likely to swing the tape. The names on the calendar are smaller. The bigger risk into tomorrow is Delta Air Lines, which reports before the opening bell Friday morning. With crude up about five percent today, investors will be listening for jet-fuel costs, demand, and how management thinks about the rest of the year if oil stays this high. Delta shares are down about one percent today ahead of that report.

Watch three things into the close. First, whether oil holds near one hundred five dollars or cools off on any calm in the Gulf. Second, how the bond market digests the thirty-year auction result, and whether the ten-year stays near five-point-three or pushes back toward this morning's highs. Third, whether the selling in chips spreads into the closing hour, or whether energy's bid is enough to steady the Dow.

That's the midday picture. We'll be back this evening with a company deep dive on the day's biggest stories, including the oil shock, PepsiCo's beat-and-cut, and how the A-I trade is handling higher yields. Thanks for listening. I'm Trade and Ticker.