Stock Futures Quietly Higher as Gold Shines

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), Nasdaq-100 (NDX), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are pointed marginally higher this morning, with Wall Street looking to build on last night's record closes. The blue-chip index could test 47,000 today, while the small-cap Russell 2000 tries to close above 2,500 for the first time ever.

Profit taking on AI stocks could slow the tech sector today, as well as political gridlock, as the House failed to pass a bill to end the government shutdown last night. Amidst the uncertainty, gold prices crossed $4,000/oz for the first time this morning.

• Somehow, someway, the forecast for SPX bulls is still clear, says Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone.
• Traders are loading up on this options strategy for PLTR.
• Plus, AppLovin on the mend; Aehr earnings disappoint; and IBM inks Anthropic deal.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange saw over 2.9 million call contracts and 1.3 million put contracts exchanged on Monday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.45, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.58.
2. AppLovin Corp (NASDAQ:APP) is 2.6% higher before the open, looking to recoup some of yesterday's 14% drawdown in the wake of a Securities and Exchanges (SEC) probe into the company's data collection policies. AppLovin stock is 81.2% higher on the year, and hit a record high of $745.61 on Sept. 29. 
3. Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) stock is 18.8% lower ahead of the bell, after the semiconductor equipment name reported revenue that fell short of estimates. AEHR is 90% higher in 2025 heading into today and hit a two-year high of $34.34 on Oct. 2. 
4. The shares of IBM (NYSE:IBM) are up 3.2% in electronic trading, after the tech giant announced a partnership with Anthropic to integrate large language models into IBM products. IBM is up 31% year to date, and could make a run at its June 25 all-time high of $296.16 today.
5. Fed minutes sure to offer important dot plot insight next week.

Japan's Nikkei, Bond Yields Hit Record Highs

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei hitting another record before settling flat, as tech stocks surged in response to the deal between OpenAI and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Japanese Government bond yields also surged to all-time highs. Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite, South Korea’s Kospi, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were all closed for holidays.

European stocks are higher, brushing off political uncertainty following the sudden resignation of French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu. France’s CAC 40 is up 0.3%, brushing off losses from French banks as luxury stocks including Gucci parent Kering rally. Germany’s DAX is 0.2% higher despite the country’s disappointing factory orders, while London’s FTSE 100 is also sporting a 0.2% lead after energy giant Shell (SHEL) forecast “significantly higher” trading for its gas division in the third quarter.