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The leader of the AI revolution approached a new peak on Friday, and two of the three main U.S. equity indexes posted fresh all-time highs during a risk-on yet mixed-up stock market rally. Crude oil prices declined amid relative quiet on the Middle East front.
Nvidia (NVDA, +4.3%) was the top-performing Dow Jones stock and closed within a couple of dollars of a new high, even as the industrial average was alone among the main indexes in the red for the day. NVDA, which traded at $212.19 intraday on October 29, changed hands at a high of $210.95 today.
Intel (INTC, 23.6%) was actually the top-performing semiconductor stock, after management reported expectations-beating first-quarter revenue and earnings and CEO Lip-Bu Tan cited “clear signs that the CPU is reasserting itself as the indispensable foundation of the AI era” during the company’s earnings call.
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Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined by 1.2% to $94.70 per barrel. For the week, WTI was higher by 12.9%. Energy was among six of 11 sectors to close in the red, as oil prices continue to shake the market.
“The market has treated domestic policy and geopolitical shocks over the past year, including ‘Liberation Day’ in 2025 and the Middle East this year, almost like pop-up ads in a longer-winding movie focused on AI and a resilient economy,” observes Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management market research and strategy team.
Skelly says comparisons to geopolitical and energy shocks of 2022 “and concerns about a bear market” are misplaced. “One difference is today’s positive earnings setup, and with five of the Magnificent 7 stocks about to release their numbers, we’re entering a pivotal stretch of reporting season.”
Indeed, Alphabet (GOOGL, +1.6%), Amazon.com (AMZN, +3.5%), Meta Platforms (META, +2.4%) and Microsoft (MSFT, +2.1%) are on the earnings calendar after the closing bell on Wednesday. Apple (AAPL, -0.9%) is scheduled to report after the closing bell on Thursday.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% on Friday at 49,230, and Papa Dow was down 0.4% for the week. The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.8% to 7,165, and the index finished with a weekly gain of 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.6% to end the week up 1.5% at 24,836.
Ives eyes Oracle
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives initiated coverage of Oracle (ORCL) with an Outperform (Buy) rating and a 12-month target price of $225, but the blue chip stock was down 1.7% anyway, despite a “secret sauce” infrastructure-and-data strategy.
“We believe Oracle is on a path to become a foundational infrastructure provider for the AI Revolution,” Ives writes, “and the market is fundamentally misinterpreting the company’s aggressive, contract-backed investment cycle as speculative risk.”
According to Ives, Oracle is “leveraging its decades of expertise” as a database and enterprise software leader “to build a highly differentiated, next-generation cloud that is winning over the world’s most demanding AI workloads.”
Can Kevin Warsh cut interest rates now?
With the confirmation process for Kevin Warsh underway and a Justice Department investigation of the central bank resolved, Jerome Powell will take the lead for what is presumably his final FOMC meeting and press conference as Fed chair, the highlight of next week’s economic calendar.
In a post on X shortly after 10 am Eastern Standard Time, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she has directed her office to close its investigation of Powell and the Fed for cost overruns on a project to renovate its historic buildings in Washington, D.C.
According to Pirro, “The Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers.”
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As Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal notes, “Powell already asked the Fed’s inspector general to review the building project in July, and that work is ongoing. The IG published findings of an earlier audit of the renovations in 2021.”
Nevertheless, Pirro’s move appears to clear the way for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) to vote “yes” on President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Powell as Fed chair, Kevin Warsh.
“You have extraordinary credentials,” Tillis said to Warsh during his questioning of the nominee on Tuesday. “They’re impeccable. Let’s get rid of this investigation, so I can support your confirmation.”
CME FedWatch now reflects a 61.4% probability the central bank holds interest rates steady through the end of the year vs 75.9% on Thursday. The target range for the federal funds rate is 3.50% to 3.75%.
