SpaceX’s First Profit Lifts Nasdaq as Tech Earnings Impress

Summary

SpaceX reported its first profit as a public company, with strong tech earnings lifting the Nasdaq and Wall Street higher. However, S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx 50 futures pointed lower as Asian markets stayed cautious. France’s 10-year yield kept rising after topping 5% for the first time since 2002, ahead of Moody’s rating review on Friday. The euro has largely steadied after a month-long slide.

Equities

The FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 10,752.88 on Wednesday, ending a two-session losing run, as gains in BP and Shell helped lift the index. The FTSE 250 added 0.3%.

UK inflation rose to 3.5% in September, above forecasts of 3.4%, as higher energy prices linked to the war on Iran fed through. Money markets now see a quarter-point Bank of England rate rise in November as almost certain.

Government borrowing came in above forecasts for a second straight month, pushing public debt above £3trn and adding pressure on Chancellor John Healey ahead of next week’s Budget. The government also approved the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea, ending years of legal and political disputes.

Halfords dropped about 8.6% on Wednesday, the steepest fall on the FTSE 250, after its first-half results. Aberdeen Group fell 4% after the asset manager flagged a slower-than-expected return to inflows from its adviser business.

The Nasdaq rose 1.05% to 26,702.86 on Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.58% to 7,757.17 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.69% to 52,856.09. Technology was the strongest S&P 500 sector, up 1.6%, while the Philadelphia semiconductor index climbed 2%.

SpaceX closed 7.8% higher on Wednesday after posting its first profit as a public company. Elon Musk said a merger of SpaceX and Tesla would be a good idea, and Tesla finished 3.4% higher before adding a further 1.6% after hours following its own results.

Super Micro Computer jumped 9.6% on Wednesday after the AI server maker forecast quarterly revenue and profit margin above estimates. Dell rose 5.3% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 3.7%.

AT&T sank 6.5% on Wednesday despite beating third-quarter revenue and profit expectations, as SpaceX’s results and recent spectrum purchase raised fears of tougher competition in telecoms. T-Mobile US fell 2.5% and Verizon lost 2.2%.

Netflix fell 5.3% on Wednesday after its weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit forecast, and Alphabet slipped 1.6%. Abbott Laboratories dropped 1.9% after cutting its 2026 sales growth forecast. Meta rose 3% in late trading after releasing its quarterly results.

Forex & Commodities

The US dollar was down early this morning at 157.3 yen, as the yen rose above its 50-day moving average after spending most of October in a tight range. The British pound held at $1.340, close to the one-month high of $1.341 reached earlier in the week, supported by hotter-than-expected UK inflation figures. The euro stayed steady above $1.12, even after French 10-year bond yields hit their highest level since 2022 on Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a one-month high of C$1.403 against the greenback early this morning on expectations of a Bank of Canada rate hike next week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7015, while the New Zealand dollar touched a one-month high of $0.5709 before slipping back to $0.5698 ahead of an expected rate rise.

The European Central Bank is expected to hold its benchmark rate at 2.5% next week, although a hike is almost fully priced in before the end of the year. The Bank of Japan is also expected to hold, with its next increase to 1.5% anticipated early next year. Traders see a 15% chance of a Federal Reserve hike at its October 27 to 28 meeting and a 91% likelihood of a December increase.

Spot gold fell 1.3% to $4,085 an ounce early this morning, its lowest level since October 14, as rising oil prices added to inflation concerns. Silver dropped to $56.05, platinum slid to $1,593 and palladium fell to $1,057.

Oil prices rose early this morning, with Brent crude up 2.6% at $111.6 a barrel, close to a five-month high, and WTI up at $99.39. Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday killed three people, prompting the US to order some diplomats and their families to leave its missions in the kingdom. US crude stocks fell by 3.06 million barrels last week, well above the expected 820,000-barrel draw.

InterContinental Hotels Group reported a rise in quarterly room revenue on strong US demand. Pearson confirmed its full-year guidance after reporting accelerating growth.