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Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.2%, Nasdaq up 0.6%

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Kimberly-Clark to acquire Kenvue ( KVUE ) for about $48.7 bln

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Iren jumps after $9.7 bln contract with Microsoft

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U.S. manufacturing activity contracts in October

(Updates prices, analyst comment)

By Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 3 2025 - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher on

Monday, after a slew of AI deals boosted megacap companies

Amazon ( AMZN ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), while hawkish comments from Federal Reserve

officials kept optimism in check.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) hit a record high after signing a

multi-year $38 billion deal to supply cloud computing services

to OpenAI, giving the ChatGPT maker access to Nvidia's ( NVDA ) graphics

processors.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained 3.2% after President Donald Trump

said the company's most advanced chips will be reserved for U.S.

companies and Microsoft secured export licenses to use its chips

in UAE data centers.

Loop Capital raised its price target for Nvidia ( NVDA ) stock by

$100, which also helped gains.

Optimism around AI has been driving markets to record highs

after several so-called "Magnificent Seven" companies pointed to

a surge in spending on the technology. The S&P 500 and the

Nasdaq marked their longest monthly winning streaks in years in

October.

Investors await results from Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), among others this week.

"What's creeping in is this narrative about AI and when

business plans will be demonstrated to guide investors about

when they will see profits from the AI investments," said Peter

Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.

"Those that are starting to think that the financing of

these deals, which are now being done off balance sheet in

special purpose vehicles, might be an early sign of the frailty

of financing these deals."

The consumer discretionary and information

technology sectors gained 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively,

kept the S&P 500 afloat. Most other sectors fell, with

financials the biggest drag.

Kenvue ( KVUE ) jumped 16.5% after Kimberly-Clark

said it will acquire the Tylenol maker in a deal valued at more

than $40 billion. Kimberly-Clark slid 12.5%.

At 11:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 186.25 points, or 0.39%, the S&P 500 gained 10.83

points, or 0.16% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 119.50

points, or 0.51%.

Healthcare heavyweights UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) and Merck ( MRK )

fell 2.8% and 3%, respectively, weighing on the Dow.

PRIVATE ECONOMIC DATA AWAITED

Private sector economic data, including Wednesday's private

payrolls, will be closely watched this week, with the

second-longest U.S. government shutdown contributing to data fog

and monetary policy uncertainty.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Monday he was

in no rush to cut interest rates again with inflation at high

levels, adding to recent hawkish commentary from other central

bank officials following a 25-basis-point cut last week.

Traders are now pricing in a 70.3% chance of a

25-basis-point rate cut in December, lower than the 90% a week

earlier, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

U.S. manufacturing contracted for an eighth consecutive

month in October as new orders remained subdued, data showed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case

around the legality of Trump's tariffs on Wednesday.

IDEXX ( IDXX ) jumped 13% after raising its annual

forecasts, among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.86-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and 29 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 146 new

lows.