Wall Street opened the week on a positive note, with technology shares driving early gains. The Nasdaq Composite rose 164 points (0.69%) to 23,889, supported by strong performances across the sector.
Pet healthcare firm IDEXX Laboratories led the advance, surging 14% after posting robust quarterly results. Amazon gained 4.9%, Nvidia added 2.7%, and Tesla climbed 2.3% in early trading.
The upbeat start extends a strong run for U.S. equities. According to Tom Stevenson, investment director at Fidelity International, October marked the sixth consecutive monthly gain for the S&P 500, up 2.4% last month and closing at record highs on 36 occasions so far this year.
The Nasdaq rose 4.8% in October, securing its seventh straight monthly advance — the longest winning streak since 2018.
Stevenson noted:
“It has been a remarkable year for equity investors because outside the US, returns have been even higher, between 20% and the mid-30% range for Europe, Japan, and emerging markets. Only gold has done better.”
Amazon shares surge after $38bn OpenAI cloud deal
Amazon’s stock jumped in early U.S. trading after reports that OpenAI has signed a $38 billion agreement to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud computing.
The multi-year deal will provide OpenAI with access to expanded computing power and infrastructure, enabling it to scale products such as ChatGPT and other AI applications on AWS.
The move marks a significant shift in OpenAI’s cloud strategy. Until now, the company has been closely aligned with Microsoft, one of its key investors, and has primarily relied on Azure for its computing needs.
Analysts said the agreement strengthens Amazon’s position in the AI infrastructure market, while potentially broadening OpenAI’s technology partnerships beyond the Microsoft ecosystem.
