What Shutdown? Stock Futures Ready to Roll Again

Stock futures are poised for the next leg higher, ready to take their cues from yesterday's resilient markets. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are up 55 points, while S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures sit quietly in the black as well. A resurgent tech sector -- led by Nvidia (NVDA) -- is helping investors forget all about the ongoing government shutdown and lack of Friday jobs data. Barring a major collapse, all three major indexes are poised for outsized weekly wins and record closes.

• EV stocks -- even Tesla -- brushed off strong delivery numbers.
• Downgrade finally slows down red-hot tech stock.
• Plus, a blue-chip bull note; Red Cat coverage increases; and a warning for AMAT. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange saw over 2.9 million call contracts and 1.4 million put contracts exchanged on Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.47, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.58.
2. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock is 0.8% higher before the bell, after Wells Fargo upgraded the pharma giant to "overweight" from "equal-weight," with a price-target hike to $212 from $170. The analyst in coverage is optimistic about the company's drug sales the next two years. JNJ reclaimed its year-to-date breakeven level last week, and is poised to open at a record high this morning.
3. Red Cat Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RCAT) stock is up 7% ahead of the open, after Needham initiated coverage on the drone maker with a "buy" rating and $17 price target. This would represent a new peak for RCAT, which is down 10% in 2025 but 255% higher in the last 12 months. 
4. The shares of Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) are down 2.3% in electronic trading, after the semiconductor equipment company flagged a $600 million revenue hit for next year, due to the China export curbs. AMAT hit an annual high of $226.41 yesterday, and is 37% higher on the year heading into today.
5. Fed minutes sure to offer important dot plot insight next week.

Tech Tailwinds Lift Nikkei

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei rising 1.9% after Hitachi announced a partnership with OpenAI to build data centers across the globe. Investors also unpacked a higher-than-expected jump in the country’s unemployment rate, as well as the S&P Global Japan services purchasing managers’ index, which came in at 53.3 in September as domestic demand strengthened and new export business fell. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 2.7%, and China’s Shanghai Composite settled 0.5% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the only loser, shedding 0.5%.

European stocks are a mixed bag. Investors are closely monitoring the stateside government shutdown as well as European leaders’ talks of building a drone wall to deter Russian aircraft violations, after Munich airport briefly closed this week amid drone sightings. At last glance, London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.5%, while the French CAC 40 and German DAX are down 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.