Perspective: Mid-Day Commentary for October 30
October 30 – Intel is officially seeing its sharpest one-day drop on record, with its stock currently down nearly 29% as the selling pressure in the tech sector intensifies amid renewed fears of the surging costs associated with the ongoing AI buildout. That selling pressure has spread across global chip stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) down nearly 7% at the time of writing. A good share of this weakness is likely more of a rotation of money out of tech and into other sectors, however, with the tech heavy Nasdaq seeing the biggest weakness as it falls over 3% on the day to reach its lowest level since early August, though the S&P 500 is down a more modest 1.5% to trade at a roughly six-week low, while the Dow Jones is down only 0.7%, back to where it was trading early last week. The VIX is surging in turn, up over 14% on the day to carve out a new high for the week, currently hovering near 19.7 at midday. The dollar has had a volatile session but now sits up 0.1% on the day to trade at 101.95. Treasury yields remain lower at midday, perhaps reflecting some money leaving the equities space and looking for safe havens, with 2-year yields off 4-basis points to trade at 4.614%, 10-year yields off 3-basis points to trade at 4.956%, and 30-year yields just below unchanged to sit at 5.326%. Crude oil is looking to end the week on a strong note as we head into the weekend market closure with fears of Middle East escalation lingering as Tuesday’s midterm elections arrive, with nearby WTI posting another fresh six-week high today, currently sitting up 1.2% to trade near $104.15, while nearby Brent is up 2.5% to trade near $113.60, its highest level of the week.
- Grains & Oilseeds
