Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as oil prices fall, tech recovers

Moderna (MRNA) stock popped 9% on Friday after the New York Times reported new details about an effort to accelerate cancer vaccine development. Investors saw the mRNA biotech company, in particular, as a beneficiary.

Other pharmaceutical stocks, including Pfizer (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX), and Merck (MRK), also rose.

According to the New York Times, the new initiative is a public-private partnership — similar to the effort that produced COVID-19 vaccines — that involves the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH’s nonprofit arm, researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, advocacy groups, other nonprofits, and patients.

Year to date, Moderna stock is up 627%.

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Investors liked SpaceX’s (SPCX) deal to pick up a low-band spectrum portfolio, as was announced on Thursday. The stock rose 1.6% on Friday.

Telecoms, not so much. Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), and T-Mobile (TMUS) stocks fell by over 7% as investors viewed SpaceX’s threat to poach the carriers’ subscribers as credible. SpaceX is making moves to build out a major wireless mobile network and disrupt legacy players in the space.

SpaceX shares appear to have broken out of their post-IPO hangover. The stock has climbed 10% and 48% over the past three months, clawing back from its August lows. The stock is up 8% from its IPO price of $150.

Consumer sentiment fell to a five-month low, according to a University of Michigan survey, as inflation pressures from the Iran war and tariffs continued to strain American households.

A preliminary reading of October consumer sentiment dropped to 46.3, its lowest reading since May, which represented the record low. The index dropped 1.8 points from September’s reading.

“Frustration over cost-of-living continues to mount, as consumers across the political spectrum believe that the trajectory of the economy has weakened since the beginning of the year,” the survey’s director, Joanne Hsu, said in a statement.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported third quarter results on Friday morning that missed the mark, as strength from Delta’s premium business could not blunt the effects of higher fuel prices. Delta subsequently cut its guidance, noting that its total fuel bill for the year would increase by a whopping $6 billion.

For the quarter, Delta reported Q3 adjusted revenue of $17.58 billion, slightly below analyst estimates of $17.76 billion per Bloomberg, up 15.7% from a year ago. Delta posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.72 vs. $1.82 estimated, on adjusted net income of $1.134 vs. $1.23 billion expected.

Delta said its Q3 performance was hit by $500 million in higher fuel costs than the guidance it issued in July. Delta’s total fuel bill for the quarter hit $4.1 billion, up 62% from a year ago, as the US-Israeli war with Iran rocked the global oil market.

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Yahoo Finance’s Ethan Wolff-Mann writes in today’s Morning Brief newsletter:

Apple (AAPL) has positioned itself many times between the consumer and what they want, with great success.

The iTunes store. The App store. As Michael Gambon said in “Layer Cake” — a quote I have written about before and will many times again — “The art of good business is being a good middleman,” and Apple understands this as well as anyone.

But Apple’s ability to execute this strategy is thanks to its access to that middle ground: Controlling and supplying the world’s most popular devices, like the iPhone and iPad, makes this possible.

Yorkville Ives’s Dan Ives said this sums up his bullish case for the slick hardware king, the sometimes-most-valuable company, still flying high without being directly involved in frontier AI.

“In our view, Apple will be the toll collector on the consumer AI highway,” Ives wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “While the last few years Apple has struggled with its AI strategy and went through many twists and turns, now finally Ternus and Cupertino have a horse in the race with an AI vision that will build over the coming years into a formidable piece of the Apple strategy.”

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Economic data: U. Mich. sentiment, October preliminary reading (48 expected, 48.1 prior); U. Mich. current conditions, October preliminary reading (50.9 prior); U. Mich. current expectations, October preliminary reading (46.3 prior); U. Mich. 1-year inflation, October preliminary reading (+4.6% prior); U. Mich. 5-10 year inflation, October preliminary reading (+3.4% prior)

Earnings calendar: Delta Air Lines (DAL)

Catch up on some top stories from overnight:

SpaceX’s phone play sees AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon crushed after hours

Oil declines after Trump says no Iran attacks before midterms

OpenAI expects $70 billion in annualized revenue by end of 2026

American Express fined $350M for facilitating money laundering

Fired OpenAI safety researchers say they were pushed out over ‘suspicious’ circumstances

Reuters reports:

Asian stocks slipped on Friday and were poised for a second straight weekly drop as investors fretted about elevated energy prices, bond market ructions and the huge sums needed to fund AI investment.

Brent crude futures were at $103.70 per ‌barrel in Asian hours after surging more than 4% in the previous session on concerns over the war in the Middle East that ‌has fanned inflation worries and led to higher rates across the globe.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will not launch an attack on Iran before November’s US midterm elections, although ​traders remained sceptical of any progress being made to end the war.

“The big question for markets is whether Trump sticks to his word if Iranian attacks intensify,” said Nick Twidale, chief market strategist at ATFX Global.

“Any indication that the White House is reconsidering military action could see oil prices spike sharply higher, particularly with tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz already under significant pressure.”

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