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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 notch new closing highs as investors shake off the government shutdown

The S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher, the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.5%, and the Russell 2000 gained 0.2%.

A surprise drop in private payrolls boosted traders’ confidence in two more rate cuts in 2025 despite the federal government shutdown, which could delay key economic data, including Friday’s jobs report.

The S&P 500 notched a fresh all-time high, crossing above the 6,700 level for the first time. The Nasdaq 100 also closed at a new all-time high, while the Russell 2000 powered higher in the final hours of the session.

Healthcare was the best-performing sector ETF for the second day in a row, as the Trump administration will not be imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical companies by the deadline it had initially given them, according to a White House official. Pharma stocks Eli Lilly, Amgen, Roche, and GSK all rallied on the news.

Other stocks that moved higher:

Plug Power soared on a flurry of bullish options activity after the company announced that it delivered its first electrolyzer to a refinery in Portugal.
Nike extended its rally as investors and analysts processed the sneaker giant’s stronger-than-expected Q1 results.
EV maker ChargePoint jumped as the last rush of car buyers to take advantage of Biden-era federal EV incentives put a bunch of new EVs on the road.
- Tesla’s September sales rose in France and Denmark for the first time this year and continued to grow in Norway and Spain.
- Ford sales climbed for the seventh straight month as EVs hit a quarterly record.
Lithium Americas spiked on plans for the Department of Energy to take a 5% stake in exchange for early access to financing and deferred debt service.
Intel jumped on reports that it’s in talks for AMD to come aboard as a customer for Intel’s troubled contract chip manufacturing division, known as a foundry.
AI medical diagnostics company Tempus AI rose following yesterday’s executive order promoting AI to produce solutions for pediatric cancer.
Federal immigration and prison operator GEO Group popped on yesterday’s announcement that it has won a new contract with ICE to continue in its role as a vendor of electronic monitoring.
Strategy rallied following IRS interim guidance that would remove the 15% Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax for unrealized gains on bitcoin holdings.

Stocks that moved lower:

Reddit sank amid elevated trading activity, seemingly driven by reports on social media that suggest ChatGPT is using Reddit content as a source much less often.
Amazon launched Amazon Grocery, a new private-label food brand that combines its Fresh and Happy Belly lines into one collection, sending grocery-selling rivals Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Costco lower.
Power turbine maker GE Vernova dipped after RBC analysts cut their rating on the stock.

Matt Phillips4h

Intel jumps on report of customer talks with AMD for foundry division

Intel shares popped in afternoon trading Wednesday after Semafor reported that it’s in preliminary talks for AMD to come aboard as a customer for Intel’s troubled contract chip manufacturing division, known as a foundry.

Shares were recently up 5.7%.

Semafor stressed that sources said, “It’s unclear how much of their manufacturing would shift to Intel if the two companies reach a deal, or whether it would come with a direct investment by AMD, similar to the deals cut by other companies. It is possible that no agreement will be reached, the people said.”

The addition of AMD — which competes with Intel in the CPU space — as a customer would be another big win for the US chipmaker following its partnership with Nvidia announced in mid-September.

TSMC, the primary manufacturer of AMD chips, was only briefly rattled by the news, and remains well in the green on the day.

Intel in early talks to add AMD as foundry customer

The addition of AMD — which competes with Intel in the CPU space — as a customer would be another big win for the US chipmaker following its partnership with Nvidia announced in mid-September.

TSMC, the primary manufacturer of AMD chips, was only briefly rattled by the news, and remains well in the green on the day.

Jon Keegan5h

ChargePoint jumps as EV sales soar

Riding along with some other EV stocks, shares of ChargePoint jumped 4.1% in recent trading. The last rush to take advantage of Biden-era federal EV incentives has put a bunch of new electric vehicles on the road, sending ChargePoint up along with Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid.

Ford said earlier Wednesday that its EV sales hit a quarterly record, and it and other EV makers have been exploring unorthodox ways to replicate the EV tax credits for consumers through year-end.

Still, ChargePoint is down over 47% for the year and narrowly escaped NYSE delisting with a 20-for-1 reverse stock split back in July. And it’s not hard to see why: the company has never had a profitable quarter.

J. Edward Moreno5h

Trump admin reportedly backs off on pharma tariffs

The Trump administration will not be imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical companies by the deadline it had initially given them, a White House official told STAT.

Last week, President Trump announced on Truth Social that starting on October 1, there would be a 100% tariff on patented, branded pharmaceuticals “unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.” As of October 1, those tariffs have not gone into effect and it’s unclear when they will, according to STAT.

Trump administration backs off 100% pharma tariffs threatened to start today

Matt Phillips6h

GE Vernova declines after analyst downgrade of top AI energy trade

Power turbine maker GE Vernova is down midday after RBC analysts cut their rating on the stock from “outperform” (essentially a “buy”) to “sector perform” (essentially a “hold”), suggesting that long-term earnings expectations for the company might have gotten too optimistic.

RBC’s Christopher Dendrinos wrote:

“Our longer-term expectations are more conservative than consensus expectations which we think could be over appreciating the cadence of revenue growth in the power segment in 2029-2030. We believe investors are already fully valuing the company on the longer-term 2030 outlook and there could be more limited opportunity for positive rate of change in current expectations.”

Dendrinos argues that the Street’s expectations for when the river of payments will materialize from the service contracts GE sells to maintain the newly installed turbines is too soon. He wrote that it will take a much longer cycle:

“Mgmt sees an opportunity to double the installed base of baseload power over the next 10 years which should support significant rev growth and stronger margins (we estimate gas service margins over 30%).

However, the first major service cycle typically occurs ~3-4 years after installation so the benefit of service price increases and new LTSAs are unlikely to begin to benefit the income statement until later in the decade and will be a gradual increase.”

Earlier in the year, GE Vernova was a top performer as the AI data center trade boomed. It was up roughly 100% for the year in late July, making it the third-best gainer in the S&P 500 for the year.

It has stalled since then, though it remains up more than 80% in 2025.

Matt Phillips6h

GEO Group rises on ICE contract announcement

Federal immigration and prison operator GEO Group popped after announcing late Tuesday that it has won a new contract from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue in its role as a vendor of electronic monitoring, case management, and supervision services under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program.

(That’s a program that keeps track of people as they undergo the immigration review process.)

Since the election, GEO Group has been one of a number of stocks whose business — or leadership — is seen as closely tied to the Trump administration, or set to benefit from White House policy changes.

GEO Group is up 150% since President Trump was elected last November.