Wall Street began the final week of September on a positive note, with stocks mostly trading higher. This comes as the market looks to rebound from a tough month of September. Investors will be closely monitoring U.S. inflation data and negotiations in Congress over avoiding a government shutdown.
One notable development on Monday was the announcement of a tentative agreement between striking writers and Hollywood studios. After nearly five months, the Writers Guild of America announced a three-year deal that includes significant gains and protections for writers. Media stocks, however, showed mixed performance, with Paramount Global falling 2.5%, Warner Bros. Discovery sliding 3.5%, Netflix gaining 0.8%, Walt Disney down 0.6%, and Amazon.com rising 1.6%. Warner Bros. was the leading decliner in the S&P 500.
In other news, Amazon announced that it will be investing up to $4 billion in artificial intelligence company Anthropic. This move will see Amazon taking a minority stake in Anthropic, with its cloud customers gaining early access to Anthropic’s technology through Amazon Bedrock. Additionally, Amazon Web Services will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider.
Williams-Sonoma saw a significant boost in its stock price after private-equity firm Green Equity Investors disclosed a 5% ownership stake in the home goods retailer. The company’s shares rose by 9.5% in response to the news.
On the other hand, Opendoor Technologies experienced a decline in its stock price after Citi analysts lowered their price target on the real estate company. Alcoa, the aluminum products manufacturer, also faced a decline of 5% following the appointment of William Oplinger as its new chief executive officer.
Sealed Air, a containers and packing company, enjoyed a 2.7% gain after being upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi. Similarly, CarMax, a used-car seller, saw its shares rise by 2.5% after being upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush.
Chinese electric-vehicle maker NIO experienced a 2.1% drop in its American depositary receipts after reports suggested that the company was considering raising $3 billion from investors. However, NIO issued a statement denying any reportable capital raising activity apart from a completion of a convertible notes offering.
Chemical giant Dow saw its shares gain 1.7% after being upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.
Instacart, the grocery-delivery app, had a modest rise of 0.3% after being initiated at Wolfe Research with a Peer Perform rating. On the other hand, Nike saw a slight decline of 0.1% after being downgraded by Jefferies from Buy to Hold and having its price target reduced.
Earnings reports are expected later in the week from companies such as Costco Wholesale, Micron Technology, Carnival, Paychex, Jefferies Financial, Accenture, Jabil, CarMax, and BlackBerry.
As the month of September comes to a close, investors will be closely watching market developments, particularly the U.S. inflation data and negotiations in Congress. With hopes of a rebound, the market remains dynamic and unpredictable.