Nasdaq Hits Fresh Record as Tech Rallies Despite Shutdown Drama

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•  02 Oct 2025
 

•   AMD  
   
  -0.38%
•   AMZN  
   
  +0.22%
•   EFX  
   
  -0.15%
•   FICO  
   
  +0.33%
•   GOOGL  
   
  +0.36%

Wall Street closed higher on Thursday after shaking off early jitters about the ongoing government shutdown. The $SPX climbed 0.1% after erasing a 0.3% morning dip, while the $NDAQ powered 0.4% higher to notch its second consecutive record close. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index stole the show with a impressive 2% surge, led by strong performances from $AMD and $INTC.

The rally came despite Washington's political circus entering day two of the government shutdown, with former President Trump threatening to fire thousands of federal workers if Democrats don't budge on a deal. Investors chose to look past the noise and focus on what really matters, the booming tech sector and promising developments in artificial intelligence.

The biggest headline of the day belonged to OpenAI, which skyrocketed to a $500 billion valuation following a $6.6 billion employee share sale. The ChatGPT creator has now leapfrogged SpaceX to become one of the world's most valuable private companies, fueling optimism across the entire AI ecosystem. This massive valuation bump helped lift sentiment across tech stocks and reinforced the market's conviction that artificial intelligence remains the dominant investment theme of this era.

Quantum computing names went ballistic after Rigetti announced its first commercial sales to business customers, with $5.7 million in orders for Novera systems. This marked a crucial transition from experimental technology to real-world commercial applications. $RGTI's surge created a powerful ripple effect, pulling competitors $IONQ, $QBTS, and D-Wave sharply higher as investors rushed into the space.

Not everything was sunshine and roses. $TSLA dropped 5% despite reporting 497,099 vehicle deliveries in Q3, representing a solid 29% jump from Q2 and 7.4% increase year-over-year. The problem is that year-to-date deliveries of 1.22 million vehicles are down 5.9% compared to the same period in 2024, raising concerns about the company's growth trajectory. Meanwhile, rival $RIVN fell 7% even after beating analyst expectations with 13,201 deliveries, as the company trimmed its full-year guidance range.

Warren Buffett reminded everyone he's still got it, with $BRK.B announcing a $9.7 billion acquisition of Occidental's chemicals division. The move marks the Oracle of Omaha's return to major dealmaking after years of caution, giving Occidental breathing room to cut debt while Berkshire picks up a stable asset with strong economic moats in the basic chemicals market.

$MSFT unveiled plans to pour over $33 billion into neo-cloud providers like Nebius and CoreWeave, securing immediate access to $NVDA chips to meet surging AI demand. This aggressive move is designed to maintain Microsoft's edge over rivals $AMZN and $GOOGL in the race to dominate AI-powered cloud services.

Cryptocurrency markets caught a bid as political uncertainty drove investors toward alternative assets. Bitcoin jumped 2.4%, though it remains roughly 11% below last month's peak. $ETH, $SOL, and $XRP all posted solid daily gains as the weakening dollar made digital assets more attractive. Some traders are positioning crypto as a hedge against government dysfunction and fiscal uncertainty.

$FICO exploded 17% higher after unveiling new pricing models that allow credit report providers direct access to FICO scores, bypassing traditional credit bureaus entirely. Jefferies estimates this could boost FICO's adjusted earnings per share by 20% to 25%. The flip side was brutal for the bureaus, with $EFX plunging 7.2%, $TRU down 11%, and Experian shedding 5.3%.

The dollar strengthened for the first time in four sessions, while the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.08%, signaling a flight to safety alongside hopes for cooling inflation expectations. Job openings data showed 7.23 million positions available in August, slightly above forecasts and indicating steady labor demand. However, the government shutdown is creating a data blackout, with weekly jobless claims not released as scheduled. If the shutdown drags on, critical payroll and inflation reports could be delayed, potentially limiting the Federal Reserve's ability to continue cutting interest rates.

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