Market Bounces Back With Nvidia Leading the Charge—But There's a Catch

Wall Street had quite the rollercoaster Thursday. The early pop was chef’s kiss—Nasdaq jumped 2.6% at open—but reality set in and traders started taking profits. Here’s where we landed by day’s end:

The Scoreboard:

• Nasdaq: +0.8% (22,744 points) — was way higher, pulled back hard
• S&P 500: +0.7% (6,685 points)
• Dow: +0.6% (46,407 points)

The MVP: Nvidia

Nvidia absolutely delivered. The chip giant crushed Q3 earnings expectations and gave guidance that had the whole room breathing easier. Shares finished +1.5% despite the sector-wide selloff in computer hardware (-3.0%). This move mattered—it basically killed the “AI bubble is bursting” narrative that’s been haunting markets lately.

As Dan Coatsworth from AJ Bell put it: “Nvidia’s results had the potential to be a make-or-break moment.” Translation: if they’d disappointed, we’d probably be talking recession fears right now.

The Spanner in the Works: Jobs Report

Here’s where it gets messy. September employment jumped 119,000—way above the expected 50,000. Sounds good, right? Except the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% (was 4.3%). Markets hate mixed signals because it makes the Fed’s December decision harder to predict.

Who’s Winning Today?

• Biotech stocks 📈 NYSE Arca Bio Index: +2.0% (hit all-time intraday high)
• Natural gas 📈 +1.7%
• Banks, networking, oil: all green
• Computer hardware: bleeding (-3.0%)

Around the Globe:

• Asia-Pacific mixed: Nikkei +2.7%, Kospi +1.9%, Shanghai -0.4%
• Europe on the rise: DAX +0.9%, CAC 40 +0.7%, FTSE 100 +0.5%
• Bond market’s reacting to the unemployment surprise—10-year yield dropped 2.7 basis points to 4.104%

The Bottom Line: Nvidia saved the day, but those jobs numbers are keeping everyone guessing about rate cuts. Watch December Fed decision closely.