After Hours Report

The stock market finished broadly lower on Wednesday as accelerating inflation raised concerns about the Federal Reserve's policy outlook, while persistent weakness in semiconductor and other technology stocks weighed heavily on the major averages. The Nasdaq Composite (-1.9%) suffered the steepest decline, followed by the S&P 500 (-1.1%), while the DJIA (-0.1%) finished with a relatively modest loss thanks to strength in defensive stocks.

The September Consumer Price Index report set the tone for the session, showing that headline inflation accelerated to 3.7% year-over-year from 3.4% in August, while core inflation increased to 2.6% from 2.4%. On a monthly basis, total CPI rose 0.6%, matching expectations, while core CPI increased 0.3%, slightly above the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 0.2%. The acceleration in annual inflation, moving further away from the Fed's 2.0% target, fueled concerns about additional monetary policy tightening. The CME FedWatch tool showed the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the October FOMC meeting jumping from 22.1% yesterday to nearly 50% immediately following the report.

Treasury yields also surged in response, with yields on the 3-, 5-, and 7-year notes reaching fresh 2026 highs before steadily retreating throughout the session. The recovery coincided with a moderation in rate hike expectations, which moved back toward yesterday's levels as the day progressed. Notably, the reversal in yields provided little relief for equities, which continued sliding through the afternoon despite the improving Treasury backdrop. The 2-year note yield settled up one basis point to 4.80%, and the 10-year note yield settled down three basis points to 5.19%.

The S&P 500 briefly fell below the 7,700 level and its 50-day moving average near 7,706 before recovering somewhat from its session lows. Technology stocks remained at the center of the selling pressure throughout the day. The information technology sector (-2.6%) finished at the bottom of the S&P 500 leaderboard, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index plunging 4.3% and extending its recent stretch of pronounced weakness. Mega-cap stocks also struggled, reflected in a 2.1% decline in the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF fell 3.0%.

The retreat was especially pronounced among AI and data center infrastructure companies, where concerns about rising capital costs and the ability to support ambitious expansion plans weighed heavily on sentiment. CoreWeave (CRWV 65.78, -12.03, -15.46%) was a particular laggard amid reports that its unsecured debt maturing in 2032 had fallen to levels associated with financial distress, adding to existing concerns about financing requirements across the industry. Dell (DELL 507.45, -65.02, -11.36%) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 63.17, -5.64, -8.20%) also faced sharp selling pressure after Barclays downgraded both stocks to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Weakness extended into other growth-oriented areas, with the communication services (-1.7%) and consumer discretionary (-1.1%) sectors posting sizable declines. Airline stocks were particularly weak as elevated fuel costs and accelerating inflation raised concerns about profitability and travel demand. The industrials sector (-1.0%) also struggled, while the Russell 2000 (-1.9%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-1.3%) underperformed the S&P 500, reflecting the broader market's difficulties.

The financials sector (-0.6%) also finished lower amid mixed reactions to quarterly earnings. Bank of America (BAC 51.42, -2.54, -4.71%) declined after weaker trading and investment banking revenue, an earnings miss, and a regulatory charge overshadowed continued net interest income growth. Morgan Stanley (MS 181.60, -5.04, -2.70%) also retreated despite topping earnings expectations, while BlackRock (BLK 1074.17, +8.05, +0.76%) held up relatively well following its quarterly report.

In contrast, defensive stocks attracted considerable buying interest as investors sought shelter from the broader retreat. The health care sector (+2.5%) and consumer staples sector (+2.4%) were the clear leaders, with strength in UnitedHealth (UNH 395.76, +18.00, +4.76%), Merck (MRK 147.36, +5.38, +3.79%), Walmart (WMT 116.16, +3.88, +3.46%), and Coca-Cola (KO 91.80, +1.69, +1.88%) helping the DJIA avoid a steeper decline. Discount and value-oriented retailers also outperformed, reflecting expectations that persistent inflation could encourage consumers to shift more spending toward lower-priced essentials.

The energy sector (+0.8%) was another outperformer as WTI crude oil futures settled $1.05 higher (+1.1%) at $95.11 per barrel.

Ultimately, Wednesday's session reinforced the divergence between technology and defensive stocks, with the recovery in Treasury prices doing little to improve sentiment toward growth-oriented companies. The losses also left all three major averages in negative territory for the week, although the DJIA remains only modestly lower compared with the more substantial declines in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

Attention now turns to Thursday's September Producer Price Index report for further insight into inflation trends, alongside earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 430.00, -15.12, -3.40%), which could influence sentiment toward the recently battered semiconductor group.

Reviewing today's data: 

• Total CPI increased 0.6% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.6%), led by a 5.2% jump in the energy index, following a 0.4% increase in August. The September increase left total CPI up 3.7% year-over-year versus 3.4% in August. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%), pushed by a 0.4% increase in the shelter index, following a 0.3% increase in August. That left core CPI up 2.6% year-over-year versus 2.4% in August.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is the acceleration in inflation away from the Fed's 2.0% inflation target. That is going to accelerate concerns about a possible tightening of Fed policy at the October FOMC meeting, not to mention deficit worries as cost-of-living adjustments for 2027 for SSI recipients are on track to see their largest increase in three years.
• The Fed's Beige Book for October noted that economic activity in seven Districts was essentially muted while just two Districts reported moderate growth. The Dallas District observed robust manufacturing growth while six other Districts saw modest to moderate manufacturing growth. Consumer spending was little changed in general while employment levels were also steady. Three Districts reported robust growth in prices while eight observed moderate growth.
• The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 2.7% to follow last week's 4.2% decrease. The Purchase Index was down 4.0% while the Refinance Index was up 0.5%.

Overseas:

• Europe: DAX +0.2%, FTSE +0.7%, CAC +0.6%
• Asia: Nikkei -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.1%, Shanghai -0.9%

Commodities:

• Crude Oil +1.05 @ 95.11
• Nat Gas -0.09 @ 3.19
• Gold -68.60 @ 4108.00
• Silver -3.58 @ 55.93
• Copper -0.07 @ 6.66

After-Hours Spotlight:

• Corvex, Inc. (MOVE) files prospectus supplement; relates to ATM sales agreement for up to $250 mln of common stock...MOVE -2.0%
• Home Bancshares (HOMB) beats by $0.01, misses on revs...HOMB +0.3%
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) pushes Neutron inaugural launch target to 2027...RKLB -7.8%
• Vanda (VNDA) says Phase III VQW-765 study in social anxiety disorder missed primary endpoint; program put on hold...VNDA -6.1%
• Vistance Networks (VISN) declares $1.50/share special cash distribution...VISN +1.7%

For a full rundown of today's market and after hours developments, see Live In Play

• Earnings/Guidance (Full Earnings Calendar):
  • ASML (ASML) beats by €2.17, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs above consensus; sees 2027-28 supply falling short of customer demand, explores additional capacity expansion
  • Aya Gold & Silver (AYA) reports record Q3 consolidated production of 2.03 mln silver equivalent ounces
  • AZZ (AZZ) beats by $0.14, beats on revs
  • Bank of America (BAC) misses by $0.02, misses on revs
  • BlackRock (BLK) beats by $1.61, beats on revs
  • Fastenal (FAST) beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line
  • Morgan Stanley (MS) beats by $0.10, beats on revs
  • State Street (STT) beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; provides FY26 guidance
• General News
  • Churchill Capital XI sets Nov. 2 vote after SEC clears Agility Robotics merger S-4
  • President Trump says "Massive oil, gas, and mineral exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland"
  • Iran is planning on increasing attacks on shipping ahead of midterm elections. Reuters
  • Saudi Aramco's headquarters was hit during a missile attack from the Houthis. The fire was put out. Bloomberg
  • China purchased 8-10 Panamax cargoes of U.S. soybeans this week. Reuters
  • Bipartisan group of lawmakers sending letter to White House asking President Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Putin. Politico
  • FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson considered leaving his position. Politico
  • Taiwan says it is making progress in discussions to purchase liquified natural gas from Alaska. Reuters
  • SpaceX: Ukraine says that SPCX limited operations in the country, which disrupted the military, according to Reuters
  • Agree Realty (ADC) authorizes a monthly cash dividend of $0.271/share, representing a 1.5% month/month increase
  • Airtrunk and Firmus Grid delayed IPOs in Australia (XLK, IPOXX). WSJ (XLK)
  • Arrowhead (ARWR) posts interim Phase 1/2a ARO-MAPT data showing up to 73% mean tau reduction at Day 105
  • Bank of America (BAC): Paper losses at BAC's bond portfolio increased to over $100 bln, according to Bloomberg
  • Bank of America (BAC) hit with $1.2 bln in penalties over failures to report suspicious transactions, according to FT
  • Black Hills (BKH) Arkansas gas utility wins rate approval
  • CoreWeave (CRWV) targeting insurance money to fund the buildout of artificial intelligence. FT
  • Coya (COYA) to start open-label extension for Phase 2/3 ALSTARS trial of COYA 302 in ALS
  • Enovix (ENVX) gets initial 100,000-unit drone battery order
  • Fluence (FLNC) wins Vattenfall award for 1 GWh Brunsbüttel battery storage project
  • Generate Biomedicines (GENB) partners with Zealand Pharma (ZELA) on $1.2 bln development of obesity treatment, according to Bloomberg
  • Gevo (GEVO) signs first multi-year carbon removal credits supply deal through CEEZER
  • HII unit (HII) wins $56 mln Navy contract tied to AUKUS submarine engineering work
  • IBM (IBM), Siemens partner on nanostack semiconductor research
  • JLL (JLL) names Mark Gibson Country CEO, U.S.; Kevin MacKenzie to lead Americas Capital Markets
  • Leidos (LDOS) awarded a $317.9 mln Defense Health Agency contract to provide essential system reintegration, software licensing, and hosting services for MHS GENESIS
  • Leidos (LDOS) gets one-year extension on U.K. MOD LCST logistics contract
  • Lennox (LII) partners with Everyday Electric on smart thermostat energy-savings features
  • Leonardo DRS (DRS) wins U.S. Army DUTCH contract for next-generation uncooled thermal IR sensing
  • Liberty Global's VodafoneZiggo (LBTYA) wins EU clearance for €669 mln tower sale ahead of planned Ziggo spin-off
  • Liquidia settles all litigation with United Therapeutics (UTHR), keeps YUTREPIA on market for PAH
  • Liquidia Technologies (LQDA) surges 45% in pre-market action as global settlement clears YUTREPIA litigation overhang
  • Lockheed Martin (LMT) awarded a $117.1 mln Army contract
  • Microsoft (MSFT) planning to more than triple its data center capacity. Bloomberg
  • Microsoft (MSFT) Azure leadership seeks to cut costs by 20%, according to The Information
  • Oshkosh (OSK) partners with Michigan Tech APS LABS on vehicle power kit for FMTV A2
  • Parabilis (PBLS) starts dose-ranging zolucatetide cohort in FAP within ongoing Phase 1/2 study
  • Perfect (PERF) Corp partners with LIERAC to roll out AI skin diagnosis across eight European markets
  • Pharming (PHAR) Group reports positive Phase II leniolisib data across genetic primary immunodeficiencies beyond APDS
  • Pulse Biosciences (PLSE) partners with Clayman Thyroid Center on nPulse Vybrance use and thyroid data collection
  • RTX (RTX) awarded a $8 bln Air Force contract for strategic communications terminals at Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
  • SAIC (NOC) names Kenneth Crews CFO-elect; Prabu Natarajan becomes permanent head of Civilian Business Group
  • Takeda (TAK) Presents Phase 2/3 IgGNITE Study Results of Investigational Subcutaneous TAK-881 in Primary Immunodeficiency Disease at ESID 2026
  • Thomson Reuters (TRI) expands CoCounsel Legal globally with cross-border research from 100+ jurisdictions
  • Thor Industries (THO) increases quarterly dividend to $0.54/share from $0.52/share
  • TransUnion (TRU) expands Bankrate partnership to add personalized credit offers in Credit Essentials
  • United Therapeutics (UTHR) discloses it entered into a Settlement Agreement with Liquidia Technologies that provides for the resolution of pending litigation between the parties
  • Verastem (VSTM) Oncology names Michael P. Bailey CEO effective Jan. 1 as Daniel Paterson retires

• Upgrades:
  • Albemarle (ALB) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Mizuho
  • Anglo American (NGLOY) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan
  • Brinker International (EAT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, tgt $255
  • Kontoor Brands (KTB) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, tgt $89
  • Liquidia (LQDA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BTIG, tgt $70
  • Lockheed Martin (LMT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Vertical Research, tgt $600
  • Pentair (PNR) upgraded to Hold from Sell at TD Cowen, tgt $55
  • Ralliant (RAL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Seaport Research, tgt $88
  • Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, tgt $190
  • Trane Technologies (TT) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, tgt $565
  • Weyerhaeuser (WY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities, tgt $25
• Downgrades:
  • Albertsons (ACI) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities, tgt $12
  • Bruker (BRKR) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, tgt $60
  • Carrier Global (CARR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, tgt $61
  • Chemours (CC) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Mizuho, tgt $15
  • Dell Technologies (DELL) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, tgt $574
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, tgt $77
  • Lennox International (LII) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, tgt $390
  • NetApp (NTAP) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, tgt $219
  • Safehold (SAFE) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Citizens
  • Sotera Health (SHC) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, tgt $17
• Others:
  • AGNT Inc. (AGNT) initiated at Outperform at Citizens, tgt $6
  • Alcoa (AA) initiated at Overweight at Barclays, tgt $55
  • Americas Gold and Silver (USAS) initiated at Buy at Stifel
  • Amprius Technologies (AMPX) initiated at Buy at Canaccord, tgt $14
  • Aprea Therapeutics (APRE) initiated at Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann, tgt $2
  • Arcus Biosciences (RCUS) initiated at Overweight at JPMorgan, tgt $41
  • Ascentage Pharma (AAPG) initiated at Buy at Citi, tgt $46
  • AZZ Inc. (AZZ) initiated at Equal Weight at Barclays, tgt $140
  • Century Aluminum (CENX) initiated at Equal Weight at Barclays, tgt $40
  • Compass (COMP) initiated at Outperform at Citizens, tgt $11
  • Constellium (CSTM) initiated at Equal Weight at Barclays, tgt $28
  • Douglas Elliman (DOUG) initiated at Market Perform at Citizens
  • Entegris (ENTG) initiated at Buy at Truist Securities, tgt $190
  • Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) resumed at Buy at Stifel, tgt $48
  • Immatics (IMTX) initiated at Buy at Stifel, tgt $15
  • Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) initiated at Buy at Stifel, tgt $56.25
  • Jasper Therapeutics (JSPR) resumed at Outperform at William Blair
  • Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) initiated at Overweight at Barclays, tgt $180
  • Kirby (KEX) initiated at Overweight at JPMorgan, tgt $200
  • Marex Group (MRX) initiated at Outperform at William Blair
  • Qnity Electronics (Q) initiated at Buy at Truist Securities, tgt $170
  • Real Remax Group (REAX) initiated at Outperform at Citizens, tgt $40
  • Reliance (RS) initiated at Equal Weight at Barclays, tgt $420
  • Seaport Therapeutics (SPTX) initiated at Buy at Canaccord, tgt $28
  • Sol-Gel Technologies (SLGL) initiated at Overweight at Cantor Fitzgerald
  • Standex (SXI) initiated at Neutral at JPMorgan, tgt $320
  • Vylor (VYLR) initiated at Neutral at BNP Paribas Exane, tgt $75

• Econ Data (Thursday):
  • 8:30 ET: September PPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%; prior 0.4%), Core PPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%; prior 0.2%), September Retail Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%; prior 1.2%), Retail Sales ex-auto (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%; prior 1.4%), weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 200,000; prior 197,000), Continuing Claims (prior 1.716 mln), October Empire State Manufacturing (Briefing.com consensus 7.0; prior 7.6), and October Philadelphia Fed (Briefing.com consensus 29.0; prior 37.8)
  • 10:00 ET: August Business Inventories (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%; prior 0.8%)
  • 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +85 bcf)
  • 12:00 ET: Weekly crude oil inventories (prior -3.186 mln)

• Earnings:
  • Monday (October 12)
    • Pre-Market: None
    • After-Hours: None
  • Tuesday (October 13)
    • Pre-Market: ACI, C, DPZ, GS, JNJ, JPM, UNH, WFC
    • After-Hours: AZZ
  • Wednesday (October 14)
    • Pre-Market: ASML, BAC, BLK, FAST, MS, PGR, STT
    • After-Hours: HOMB
  • Thursday (October 15)
    • Pre-Market: BNY, CMC, ERIC, FHN, MAN, MRSH, PLD, PNC, SCHW, USB
    • After-Hours: AA, CNS, IBKR, JBHT, SFNC
  • Friday (October 16)
    • Pre-market: CFG, MTB, RF, TFC, TRV
    • Afternoon: None