Early Look

Monday, October 6, 2025

Another day, another record for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials, both coming into the trading week with 6-day win streaks while Nasdaq futures outperform overnight following a modest dip Friday to snap its 6-day win streak; gold prices and Bitcoin prices also at record highs as the stock market momentum remains on hyper-drive. Meanwhile, the US Dollar is set for its worst year since 1973. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged 2,175 points or 4.75% to settle at a record 47,994 after the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected conservative Sanae Takaichi as its new leader Saturday, positioning her to become the country’s first female Prime Minister.  In Europe, the German DAX slips -4 points to 24,374, while the FTSE 100 is down -8 points to 9,483. The S&P 500 index is now about 40% of its April tariff announcement lows, up 7-straight months. Earnings season kicks off next week, the US gov’t shutdown is into Day 6 today, but attention remains on tech and AI on Monday as Open AI Dev Day at Fort Mason in San Francisco takes place today where more than 1,500 developers meet for its biggest DevDay yet.

Crypto prices extended their weekly gains into the weekend as Bitcoin rose through $125K for the first time Sunday, hitting $125,598.61 and breaking its previous high of ~$124,480. The crypto has been up six of the last seven days, fueled by strong inflows into bitcoin ETFs and renewed institutional interest. The euro slips -0.7% vs. the dollar to 1.1656 after France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up. The U.S. dollar rose 1.99% to 150.33 Japanese yen, its highest since August as Sanae Takaichi looked set to become Japan’s next prime minister leading traders to reduce bets that the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates this month. In futures, West Texas Intermediate and Brent both gained 1.7%, following an 8% slump for Brent last week. One big M&A deal in the regional banking space as FITB to acquire CMA in a $12B deal.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.56 points, or 0.51%, to 46,758.28
• The Nasdaq Composite slipped -63.54 points, or 0.28%, to 22,780.51
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 17.69 points, or 0.72% to 2,476.18

• Earnings After the Close: AEHR STZ

• Citizens Global Gaming Expo, 10/6-10/8, in Las Vegas, NV

• Brinker (EAT) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank America saying the disparity between low and high wage earnings is growing starker and is likely to persist.
• Costco (COST) member will soon get access to blockbuster weight loss medications Wegovy and Ozempic, developed by Novo Nordisk (NVO), at half the list price. On Friday, the Danish drugmaker announced plans to offer its popular GLP-1 medications to cash-paying members of Costco.
• California ride-hail drivers will now be able to unionize, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Friday granting collective bargaining rights to workers for Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT) and other gig platforms, the Associated Press reported.
• Ford (F) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies and raise tgt to $12 from $9 saying that with 43% of U.S. volume in full size pick-ups and SUVs, the loosening of current constraints on mix of higher CO2 mix models should enable Ford to offset tariffs and improve earnings next year.
• Shake Shack (SHAK) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank America and slash tgt to $86 from $148 as sees margin pressure from competition and inflation at a time when the labor market is softening, and consumers’ restaurant spending has come under pressure.
• Stellantis NV (STLA) is preparing to pour roughly $10 billion into its U.S. operations as new CEO Antonio Filosa refocuses on the company’s most profitable market, Bloomberg News reported Saturday.

• Critical Metals (CRML) shares surge 70% after Reuters reports Trump administration officials have discussed taking a stake in in the metal mining company. If completed, the deal would give the U.S. government a direct interest in Greenland’s largest, rare earths project.
• Firefly Aerospace (FLY) will acquire national security technology company SciTec for about $855 million, the company said on Sunday, sending shares higher. The deal will be funded through a combination of $300 million in cash and $555 million in Firefly shares.

• Eli Lilly (LLY) will invest over $1B in India &###127470;&###127475; to expand manufacturing through local partners, boosting supply of obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer and autoimmune drugs, Reuters reports.
• Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) shares mentioned positively in Barron’s saying the drug company is regaining Wall Street’s confidence as new HIV and cancer treatments drive growth, profits rebound, and the biotech stock approaches its former highs. Once reliant on hepatitis C drugs, Gilead now draws most of its revenue from its dominant HIV franchise and a fast-growing oncology portfolio.

• Foxconn reported record revenue for the month of September and for Q3, though the latter figure missed market expectations. The company said September revenue surged 38% M/M and 14.2% Y/Y to NT$837.07B ($27.54B), while Q3 revenue increased 14.5% Q/Q and 11% Y/Y to NT$2.06T. Foxconn is the world’s largest assembler of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhones.
• Micron (MU) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and raise tgt to $220 from $160 saying the chip maker will see multiple quarters of double-digit price increases, which can drive substantially higher earnings power.
• Qualtrics, owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, has agreed to buy healthcare market research company Press Ganey Forsta for $6.75 billion, including debt, the Financial Times reported on Monday.