Fifth Third buying Comerica, AMD gets OpenAI boost: Morning Buzz

The major averages were mixed at midday, with the Dow the lone index in the red as the U.S. government shutdown enters its sixth day. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are gaining as optimism returns around both artificial intelligence momentum and the expectation that the Federal Reserve will follow through with another rate cut this month. 

On the global front, political developments are rippling through markets. In Japan, the election of Sanae Takaichi as leader of the ruling party has jolted the yen lower and sent the Nikkei to record highs as markets recalibrate expectations for Bank of Japan policy. In Europe, uncertainty in France deepened after Prime Minister Lecornu abruptly resigned, dragging French equities and bank stocks.

Looking to commodities, gold prices are surging to record highs once again, as the “safe haven” asset climbs to the $4,000 mark. Meanwhile, oil prices are also on the rise as OPEC+ raised production plans a bit less than expected.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Fifth Third (FITB) agreed to acquire Comerica (CMA) in an all-stock transaction valued at $10.9B
• AMD (AMD) announced a partnership with Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, including a 160M share warrant
• Heidrick & Struggles (HSII) agreed to be acquired by a consortium of investors led by Advent and Corvex for about $1.3B in cash
• Verizon (VZ) named Dan Schulman as its new CEO
• Tesla (TSLA) hinted at an October 7 event with a nine-second social media video

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Micron Technology (MU) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley on price increase expectations
• Klarna (KLAR) initiated with mix of bullish and neutral views on Wall Street
• Wall Street also rolled out coverage of Figure (FIGR) following the stock’s 61% move up since the company’s IPO on September 10
• Shake Shack (SHAK) downgraded to Underperform at BofA
• Affirm (AFRM) upgraded at Rothschild & Co Redburn, here’s why

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Boeing (BA) is preparing for a 737 production increase as early as October, Bloomberg reports
• Microsoft (MSFT) told Windows Central it is still “actively investing” in first-party Xbox hardware
• Tesla’s (TSLA) German sales dropped nearly 10% in September, Reuters reports
• The Paris prosecutor’s office is investigating Apple’s (AAPL) Siri, Reuters reports
• Carlyle (CG) is close tot a EUR 7B deal to buy BASF’s (BASFY) coatings business, FT reports

4. MOVERS:

• Spruce Biosciences (SPRB) soars after the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to tralesinidase
• OneMedNet (ONMD) jumps after selecting Palantir (PLTR) to advance healthcare AI and data analytics
• Sanmina (SANM) rises after AMD’s announced partnership with OpenAI
• Skye Biosciences (SKYE) lower after its CB1 inhibitor antibody nimacimab did not meet its primary endpoint in a study
• Trinseo (TSE) falls after announcing the closure of a facility in Italy and suspending its quarterly dividend

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Datavault (DVLT) is “optimistic” in exceeding its FY26 revenue target
• VCI Global (VCIG) reported a year-over-year increase in 1H revenue
• Lifeway Foods (LWAY) provided Q3 revenue guidance
• Niagen Bioscience (NAGE) raised its FY25 revenue outlook
• Electrovaya (ELVA) provided its revenue outlook for Q4 and FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.18%, or 85.11, to 46,673.17, the Nasdaq was up 0.70%, or 159.08, to 22,939.59, and the S&P 500 was up 0.37%, or 24.89, to 6,740.68.