US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq gain after Amazon-OpenAI deal; Kenvue soars after buyout

By Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 3 2025 - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq kicked off November on firmer ground on Monday, after a slew of AI deals boosted megacap companies Amazon and Nvidia, while Kenvue shares soared after Kimberly-Clark's buyout deal.

Amazon.com AMZN.O hit a record high after signing a multi-year $38 billion deal to supply cloud computing services to OpenAI, giving the ChatGPT maker access to Nvidia's graphics processors.

Nvidia NVDA.O gained 2.5% after President Donald Trump said the company's most advanced chips will be reserved for U.S. companies and Microsoft secured export licenses to use its chips in UAE data centers.

Loop Capital raised its price target for Nvidia stock by $100, which also helped gains.

Optimism around AI has been driving markets to record highs after several so-called "Magnificent Seven" companies pointed to a surge in spending on the technology. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq marked their longest monthly winning streaks in years in October.

Investors await results from Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O and Qualcomm QCOM.O, among others this week.

Michael Sansoterra, CIO at Silvant Capital Management, said the market was seeing earnings growth for most companies outside the big tech names.

"That tells us that the market's on track beyond the AI theme. The fundamentals of the economy have been surprisingly resilient given some of the fears around inflation and jobs," he added.

The consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and information technology .SPLRCT sectors gained 1.9% and 0.5%, respectively, buoying the S&P 500, as most other sectors declined.

Kenvue KVUE.N jumped 17.4% after Kimberly-Clark KMB.N said it will acquire the Tylenol maker in a deal valued at more than $40 billion. Kimberly-Clark slid 11.8%.

At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 177.70 points, or 0.37%, to 47,385.17, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.14 points, or 0.06%, to 6,844.34 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 128.77 points, or 0.54%, to 23,853.72.

Industrial heavyweights Caterpillar CAT.N and Honeywell HON.N fell 1.5% and 0.8%, respectively, weighing on the Dow.

PRIVATE ECONOMIC DATA AWAITED

Private sector economic data, including Wednesday's private payrolls, will be closely watched this week, with the second-longest U.S. government shutdown contributing to data fog and monetary policy uncertainty.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell had tempered optimism for a December rate cut and a clutch of Fed officials aired discomfort with the central bank's decision to cut interest rates last week.

U.S. manufacturing contracted for an eighth consecutive month in October as new orders remained subdued, data showed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case around the legality of Trump's tariffs on Wednesday.

IDEXX IDXX.O jumped 13% after raising its annual forecasts, among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500.

Berkshire Hathaway's class B shares BRKb.N fell 0.8% after its quarterly results, reversing their premarket course.

IREN IREN.O jumped 19.8% after the data center operator signed a near $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft MSFT.O to provide it with access to Nvidia GB300 processors over a five-year period.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.9-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 25 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 50 new highs and 95 new lows.