Chip Stocks Bounce and Nasdaq Leads; Amazon Jumps, CoreWeave Gives Back Its Gain

It's Monday, October nineteenth. 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, A-I and chip stocks are bouncing back after the Nasdaq's worst week since June. Second, Treasury yields are moving higher again, and that's weighing on rate-sensitive stocks. Third, a big earnings week is about to start, with SpaceX and Netflix tomorrow and Tesla and Meta on Wednesday.

Here's the picture at midday. Tech is leading, and the Dow is just treading water. As of about one o'clock Eastern, the Nasdaq is up about one and a quarter percent. The S-and-P is up about half a percent. And the Dow is right at the flat line. Small companies are up too, with the Russell two thousand higher by about half a percent. Consumer discretionary and technology are the best groups in the S-and-P, each up more than one and a half percent. Utilities are the worst, down almost two percent, followed by real estate.

Start with chips. The Philadelphia semiconductor index is up about two and a half percent, and if that holds, it snaps an eight-day losing streak, its longest since two thousand eight. Memory and storage names are leading the bounce. Sandisk is up about six percent, Western Digital about five, and Micron more than three. Intel is up more than three percent after JPMorgan upgraded it to neutral from underweight. Lam Research is up more than four ahead of its earnings on Wednesday. A-M-D and Broadcom are each up between two and a half and three percent, and Nvidia is up almost two.

CoreWeave is the one to watch here. Goldman Sachs upgraded it to buy this morning after the stock lost about a quarter of its value last week, and shares were up nearly seven percent before the bell. But that gain is gone, and right now CoreWeave is down about one percent. Nebius is holding a gain of about two percent.

Amazon is one of the biggest movers among the megacaps, up about five percent. Morgan Stanley named it a top pick and raised its price target to three hundred fifty dollars, pointing to faster growth in its cloud business. Tesla is up about four percent, with investors still buzzing about last week's Roadster reveal and more talk of closer ties between Tesla and SpaceX. SpaceX is up almost two percent. Software is bouncing too. Palantir is up more than four and a half percent, and Datadog is up more than six after a Bernstein upgrade. Not everyone is joining in. Meta is down about one percent, and Apple is down about half a percent.

Now rates and oil. The ten-year Treasury yield is up about five-hundredths of a percentage point, to about five-point-one-five percent. That's a reversal after last week's big drop in yields. It's also hitting housing. Homebuilder confidence fell to twenty-nine this month, its lowest level since June twenty twelve, as mortgage rates stay above seven percent. Oil is a little lower, easing back from last week's highs.

Two earnings stories from this morning are trading well. Cleveland-Cliffs is up about sixteen percent after earnings that beat forecasts. Fifth Third was down before the bell, but now it's up almost one percent.

After the close today, Steel Dynamics reports, along with regional banks Zions and Western Alliance, and insurer W-R Berkley. Steel Dynamics is up about one percent today, and Nucor is up almost two, so steel stocks are higher alongside Cleveland-Cliffs. Zions and Western Alliance are both a little lower, and the regional bank group is down about half a percent. The bigger tests come later this week. SpaceX and Netflix report after the close tomorrow, and Tesla and Meta report after the close on Wednesday.

Watch three things into the close. First, whether chip stocks hold their gains and snap that losing streak. Second, whether the ten-year yield keeps climbing above five-point-one percent, because that's what hurt tech last week. Third, whether CoreWeave can turn back higher, since it's become the signal for how investors feel about A-I spending.

That's the midday picture. We'll be back this evening with a company deep dive on the day's biggest stories. Thanks for listening. I'm Trade and Ticker.