US open: Stocks mixed as energy‑driven PPI surge, AI jitters weigh on sentiment

15th Oct 2026 14:38

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were mixed early on Thursday as a sharp jump in producer prices added to pressure on tech stocks, following a hotter‑than‑expected inflation reading and fresh worries over AI‑related overspending.

As of 1455 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26% at 51,753.50, while the S&P 500 shed 0.3% to 7,688.92 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.96% weaker at 26,437.42.

The Dow opened 132.02 points higher on Thursday, easily reversing losses recorded in the previous session as traders digested September's consumer price report and another batch of bank earnings.

As for Thursday's early moves, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was sharply lower as worries mounted that major tech groups were overspending on artificial‑intelligence infrastructure, adding fresh pressure to a sector already under scrutiny. Neocloud firm CoreWeave, which tumbled 15% on Wednesday, was down more than 8% in early trade amid concerns that the company was borrowing too much to fund its AI build-out.

In terms of Thursday's earnings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing beat expectations with another blowout quarter, delivering a sixth straight record profit as heavy AI‑related spending continued to drive demand. Net income surged 69% year‑on‑year to NTD $763.1bn (£23.6bn) and revenues jumped 51% to NTD $1.5trn.

Elsewhere, BNY Mellon also topped forecasts, posting Q3 earnings per share of $2.37, $0.11 ahead of consensus, with revenues rising to $5.68bn against expectations of $5.55bn, adding to the week's run of stronger‑than‑expected bank earnings.

On the macro front, US producer prices jumped in September, posting their strongest monthly rise in more than four years as energy costs surged, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The producer price index for final demand rose 1.3% month‑on‑month, following increases of 0.5% in August and 0.2% in July - marking the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices were 6.3% higher than a year earlier, the fastest annual pace since December 2022.

Final demand goods led the advance, with prices up 2.6%, the largest increase since the series began in 2009, with more than 80% of that rise coming from a 10.8% jump in energy prices. Food prices increased 1.2%, while goods excluding food and energy rose 0.3%. Gasoline was the standout driver, with prices up 20.3% on the month, while diesel, jet fuel, residential electric power, crude petroleum and fresh vegetables also saw notable increases.

On another note, US jobless claims edged slightly higher in the week ended 10 October, but remained close to multi‑decade lows, underscoring the continued resilience of the labour market. According to the Labor Department, initial claims rose by 1,000 to 199,000, after the prior week was revised up to 198,000 from 197,000, while the four‑week moving average ticked up by 250 to 198,500, also reflecting small upward revisions to earlier data. Continuing claims were broadly steady, with the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits falling by 4,000 to 1.71m in the week ended 3 October, while the previous reading was revised down to 1.714m.

Still on data, retail sales rose 0.8% month‑on‑month in September, according to the Census Bureau, comfortably beating expectations and building on August's upwardly revised 1.3% gain. The headline increase was driven largely by a 6.4% jump in sales at gasoline stations as higher fuel prices fed through. Overall retail sales, which are not adjusted for inflation, were up just 0.2% when excluding gas.

Still to come, August business inventories figures will be published at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $438.55 4.94%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $36.53 3.58%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $305.27 3.47%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $150.94 3.13%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $259.97 3.06%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $244.74 2.70%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $93.86 2.15%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.26 2.14%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $240.93 2.11%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $231.95 1.78%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $92.60 -7.79%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $711.24 -5.04%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $111.93 -2.78%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $535.67 -1.58%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $222.13 -0.23%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $334.70 -0.10%

S&P 500 - Risers

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $125.00 7.80%

Fastenal Co. (FAST) $52.46 6.78%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $158.74 6.71%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $324.72 6.44%

International Paper Co. (IP) $33.70 5.64%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $114.72 5.63%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $438.55 5.23%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $798.47 5.10%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $186.85 5.02%

ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $14.52 4.95%

S&P 500 - Fallers

FMC Corp. (FMC) $5.44 -34.51%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $659.00 -11.43%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $339.00 -10.03%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $536.27 -8.95%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $88.49 -8.85%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $860.64 -7.98%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $271.61 -7.92%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $92.60 -7.83%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $58.57 -7.38%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $124.28 7.80%

Fastenal Co. (FAST) $52.26 6.78%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $157.56 6.71%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $326.68 6.44%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $793.07 5.66%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $114.18 5.63%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $435.79 5.23%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $187.13 5.02%

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $286.36 4.91%

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $161.29 4.90%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $664.01 -11.30%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $343.61 -10.38%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $866.73 -7.98%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $93.32 -7.83%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $272.24 -7.40%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $464.95 -6.96%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,614.21 -6.44%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $429.63 -6.29%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $170.94 -5.87%