Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, reacts during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 31, 2025. <\/p>\n
Kim Soo-hyeon | Reuters<\/p>\n
Traders who shorted the S&P 500<\/a> \u2014 essentially, betting that it would go down \u2014 last month were in for a rude surprise. The broad-based index ended the month 2.3% higher, defying “Octoberphobia<\/a>,” a term that arose because of the market crashes in 1929<\/a> and 1987<\/a> that happened during the month.<\/p>\n The Nasdaq Composite<\/a> had an even better month than the S&P 500. The tech-heavy index climbed 4.7%, giving a hint of what helped ward off the arrival of any ill omens: the technology sector.<\/p>\n On Friday, Amazon<\/a> shares popped 9.6% on robust growth in its cloud-computing unit<\/a> and as CEO Andy Jassy pointed to<\/a> “strong demand in AI and core infrastructure.” The news pushed up other artificial intelligence-related stocks such as Palantir<\/a> and Oracle<\/a> too.<\/p>\n AI’s ascent in the market wasn’t a one-day event. In October, Nvidia<\/a>, the poster child of AI, became the first company to reach a valuation of $5 trillion<\/a>, with CEO Jensen Huang describing the technology as having formed a “virtuous cycle” in which usage growth will lead to an increase in investment, in turn improving AI, which will boost usage, which will\u2026 You get the idea.<\/p>\n Indeed, during their earnings disclosures last week, Big Tech companies announced dizzying increases in their capital expenditure<\/a>, most of which will likely go toward AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n All that is to say that the enthusiasm over AI looks, for now, less like the immediate sugar rush of a candy bar (and the subsequent crash), and more like the sustained energy boost from a fiber-rich pumpkin.<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n China’s factory activity slows down in October. <\/strong>The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI,\u00a0compiled by S&P Global,\u00a0came in at 50.6 for the month<\/a>, dipping from the six-month high of 51.2 in September<\/a>. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a reading of 50.9.<\/p>\n Baidu’s weekly robotaxi rides hit 250,000. <\/strong>That’s according to a spokesperson for Apollo Go, Baidu’s robotaxi unit, who said the firm surpassed that figure as of Oct. 31<\/a>. It’s roughly the same number of weekly driverless rides as Waymo<\/a>, according to report in late April.<\/p>\n Berkshire Hathaway<\/strong> operating profit rebounds. <\/strong>Year on year, that figure surged 34% to $13.485 billion in the third quarter<\/a>. Warren Buffett’s conglomerate now holds $381.6 billion in cash, the highest on record \u2014 but it isn’t looking at stock buybacks<\/a> yet.<\/p>\n U.S. markets ended Friday higher. <\/strong>On Sunday night stateside, futures tied to major U.S. indexes were\u00a0little changed<\/a>. Asia-Pacific markets rose Monday.<\/a> Japan’s Nikkei 225<\/a> and South Korea’s Kospi<\/a> were up more than 2%, as of 2 p.m. Singapore time (1 a.m. ET).<\/p>\n [PRO] Stocks enter November on a high. <\/strong>The S&P 500 is beginning November more than 16% up for the year. This week, investors should still keep an eye out for a Supreme Court case on Trump tariffs<\/a> and earnings from firms like Advanced Micro Devices<\/a> and Palantir.<\/p>\n