Wall Street hovers near flat lines as oil climbs and tech diverges
Wall Street indices hovered near flat lines during Monday’s trading session, balancing a sharp climb in crude oil prices against incoming corporate updates and upcoming bank earnings. Around 5:35 p.m., the S&P 500 dipped 0.05 percent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.34 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.48 percent.
Oil Prices Climb Following Regional Attacks
Brent spot oil prices advanced from approximately $104.3 when the New York Stock Exchange closed before the weekend to $106.8. This is an increase of $2.4 since midnight, according to Infront. The renewed energy supply concerns reversed some of the downward pressure seen late last week, when market sentiment briefly rallied following statements on oil markets by Donald Trump.
Technology Equities Diverge on Analyst Actions
Corporate developments drove divergent movements across major technology equities on Monday. Salesforce led the gains on the Dow Jones index, rising about 2 percent near 5:30 p.m. after Bank of America upgraded the stock to a buy recommendation and raised its price target from $160 to $285. According to Barron’s, the financial institution shifted its outlook to view artificial intelligence as a driver of increased customer platform dependency rather than a major threat.
Conversely, Adobe shares declined 1.25 percent after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to underweight and reduced its price target from $270 to $225. Semiconductor equities also faced downward pressure as memory chipmakers SanDisk and Micron dropped 6.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. The losses followed an announcement over the weekend by Chinese competitor CXMT detailing a new generation of memory chips.
Major Wall Street Banks Prepare Quarterly Reports
Financial markets anticipate a busy schedule on Tuesday as several major Wall Street institutions release their quarterly financial results. While the US banking sector generated substantial profits throughout 2026 largely driven by the financing of the artificial intelligence race, bank shares have underperformed the broader market over the past month.
Data compiled by the Financial Times using Bloomberg figures shows that JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Bank of America are projected to report combined trading revenues of approximately 38 billion dollars from shares and bonds. That projected figure sits 13 percent higher than the same period last year, though it represents a contraction from record levels recorded in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs previously surpassed its own records during both the first and second quarters.
Ken Mahoney, chief executive officer of Mahoney Asset Management, told Marketwatch that the current earnings season remains critical for sustaining market valuations under mounting macroeconomic pressure. High oil prices and sharply rising interest rates put pressure on valuations,
Mahoney noted, therefore earnings growth is absolutely crucial.
AI Capital Costs Prompt Industry Warnings
Technology executives cautioned that capital availability and financing expenses could constrain future artificial intelligence expansion, even as data center demand outpaces supply. Intel Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan told CNBC that capital costs represent a primary bottleneck for sector investments, alongside long-term pressure from clients demanding returns on their investments. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan expressed a similar view, suggesting that securing financing may present a greater hurdle to AI scaling than shortages of semiconductors, memory chips, or electricity.
Companies have secured an estimated 466 billion dollars in AI-driven debt, according to Financial Times (FT), which refers to an analysis from Morgan Stanley. That figure compares with 101 billion dollars in the same period last year. However, debt issuance dedicated to AI ventures slowed during September, dropping to 23 billion dollars, according to FT. Daily financing is becoming a bit more difficult,
John Aylward, founder of Sona Asset Management, told the Financial Times regarding the recent slowdown in capital deployment.