The principal indexes concluded the session with varied results as another active week of quarterly earnings announcements and the dissemination of crucial private sector employment figures commenced. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.5% on Monday, whereas the benchmark S&P 500 saw a rise of 0.2%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a decline of 0.5%. A robust earnings report from tech giant Amazon significantly contributed to the upward movement of the major indexes last Friday, concluding a successful week and month for equities. It’s set to be another busy week of earnings; software maker Palantir reported a better-than-expected quarter after the bell Monday. Investors are anticipating that the substantial investments made by major technology firms in artificial intelligence will positively impact sales for chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm, both of which are scheduled to report later in the week.

Typically, investors would anticipate crucial updates regarding the labor market this week, which has shown greater softness than economists had forecasted this year. However, the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, now extending into a second month, will result in continued delays of most economic data. Instead, investors will need to rely on alternative sources, such as the monthly private-sector jobs report. Investors are closely monitoring the labor market to assess the probability that the Federal Reserve will implement another interest rate reduction at its final meeting of the year in December, following last week’s cut. Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week cautioned that another cut is “not a foregone conclusion,” yet it continues to be the most probable outcome as per Wall Street’s assessment.

Tech stocks experienced an uptick on Monday following Microsoft’s announcement of a $10 billion cloud computing agreement with Australia-based neocloud IREN, whose shares surged by over 12%. Microsoft shares experienced a decline of 0.2%, whereas Nvidia, the provider of chips that Microsoft will acquire through the IREN deal, saw an increase of 2%. Amazon continued its upward trajectory from the previous week, increasing by 4% following the announcement of a $38 billion cloud computing agreement with OpenAI. The remaining equities within the Magnificent Seven exhibited varied results. Tesla experienced an increase of over 2%, whereas Alphabet saw a rise of 1%. Meta and Apple experienced declines of 1.6% and 0.6%, respectively.

In other corporate news, consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark has agreed to buy Tylenol maker Kenvue in a deal valued at more than $40 billion. Kenvue shares surged by 12%, in contrast, Kimberly-Clark experienced a decline exceeding 14%. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway ticked down 0.4% after the conglomerate on Saturday reported a more than 30% increase in operating profit, driven by strong insurance underwriting results. The report marks the final one from Berkshire under the stewardship of the iconic investor Warren Buffett as CEO. The 10-year Treasury yield, a key determinant of interest rates across various consumer loans, increased to 4.11% from 4.08% at the close on Friday. Gold futures increased by 0.4% to $4,015 per ounce, whereas West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark for U.S. crude oil, saw a slight rise of 0.1% to $61 per barrel. Cryptocurrencies experienced a decline, with Bitcoin priced at approximately $106,800 in the early evening, a decrease from its peak of over $111,000 during the weekend. The U.S. dollar index, which monitors the value of the greenback relative to a selection of foreign currencies, increased by 0.1% to 99.9.