Stocks were mixed in the first trading day of the month, following a record-setting October. The Dow industrials declined, while the Nasdaq composite rose.
Kenvue’s stock jumped after Kimberly-Clark agreed to buy the Tylenol maker for over $40 billion. Shares in the buyer, the maker of Huggies diapers, slid. Amazon stock extended its run-up, boosted by news of a $38 billion agreement with OpenAI.
This week will be another busy one for earnings, with results due across a swathe of industries. Monday will be relatively quiet, with earnings from AI analytics company Palantir among the highlights.
Investors are watching for further updates on U.S.-China trade relations. Beijing said over the weekend it would ease export restrictions on crucial auto semiconductors made by Nexperia. U.S. chip stocks rose, and European auto shares also rallied. Microsoft said it had received long-awaited approval to export Nvidia chips to the United Arab Emirates, which has close ties to China.
Meanwhile, Democratic senators are urging President Trump to get involved directly in talks to end the government shutdown. Pain for American households and travelers is deepening, and the shutdown is closing in on the longest on record. Polymarket bettors see a less than 1% chance the shutdown ends Monday.
European and Asian stocks rose. South Korea’s Kospi set a new record, bolstered by tech stocks in the wake of Nvidia’s deal spree. Japanese markets were shut for a holiday.
Bitcoin prices dropped close to $107,000, weighing on crypto stocks such as Strategy and Coinbase.
