By Rob Wile
Publication Date: 2025-11-20 16:17:00
The stock market started Thursday by roaring. By noon, it was whimpering.
A blowout quarterly earnings report from the computer chip giant Nvidia, a strong showing from Walmart and a better than expected September jobs report sent stocks higher at first, as investors’ saw fresh signs that the U.S. economy could prove resilient in the face of gathering headwinds.
The rally was brisk early on, with the the S&P 500, a broad measure of stocks, gaining 1.5% as trading opened. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2% early on. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 600 points.
All three major indexes were in the red by midday, however. The retreat came as traders dialed back the higher odds seen earlier in the day that the Federal Reserve announce an interest-rate cut at its meeting next month after a solid September jobs report. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin also sold off.
“The broad rebound in payrolls suggests diminished risks of a higher unemployment rate,” analysts with Morgan Stanley said in a note published shortly before noon. “We no longer expect a Fed cut in December.”
Stocks have been showing signs of flagging in recent weeks, amid rising questions about how much room the artificial intelligence boom had to run after powering markets through a year of steady gains.
Nvidia has been at the heart of that boom. Its earnings report Wednesday exceeded investor forecasts, and suggested there is still plenty of room for growth in AI. Nvidia’s stock was flat, though, after giving…
