Stocks move higher even as Treasury yields and oil prices tick up
SPY•World stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq up 0.6%, while Brent crude added about 0.2% to $104.48 a barrel and U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher.
1. Stocks advance
World stocks rose on Friday despite higher U.S. Treasury yields and oil prices. European shares gained 1%, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.56%; Japan’s Nikkei closed little changed. Telecom stocks fell after SpaceX’s acquisition of low-band spectrum heightened concerns about competition from satellite-based mobile services.
2. Yields and French debt
U.S. Treasury yields ticked up after falling on Thursday. In Europe, government borrowing costs were broadly lower, and the premium on 10-year French debt over German Bunds was about 137 basis points, on track to narrow by around 3 basis points over the week.
3. AI funding concerns
Investors weighed technology companies’ fundraising needs and questions about AI profitability. SpaceX, Broadcom and Oracle were expected to raise billions of dollars to buy advanced AI chips, while Australian data center operator Firmus shelved its planned $5 billion IPO and said it would pursue private fundraising instead. The article reported that OpenAI told investors its annualized September revenue was almost $50 billion; a separate report said it could reach or exceed $70 billion by year-end.
