Opening Comment — Friday, October 31, 2025
DJIA: 47,522.12, down 109.88
S&P 500: 6,822.34, down 68.25
NASDAQ: 23,581.14, down 377.33
Stocks higher to close out the month
Stock futures are mostly higher Friday morning to end out October as the U.S. government shutdown reached its 31st day and markets continued to await news on a potential resolution. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is up 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 1.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Thursday following an agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease trade tensions. The Dow was down 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%. The S&P 500 decreased 1.0% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Real Estate sector was the top performer, rising 0.7%, while the Consumer Discretionary sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.6%.
On the data front, September’s personal income, personal spending, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) deflator, along with the third-quarter Employment Cost Index, are all likely be delayed as the U.S. government shutdown continues. The Market News International Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI) is expected to come in at 42.0 for October, versus the prior month’s 40.6.
Across the pond, European stocks were mostly lower in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s Nationwide House Price Index for October showed an increase of 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) and a larger than expected increase of 2.4% year-over-year (YOY). The eurozone’s preliminary October Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.2% MOM and 2.1% YOY, while France’s preliminary October CPI increased by 0.1% MOM and 1.0% YOY. Meanwhile, Germany’s retail sales rose 0.2% MOM.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Japan’s Tokyo CPI accelerated to 2.8% YOY on both a headline and core basis in October. Meanwhile, the country’s jobless rate remained steady at 2.6% for September and the job-to-applicant ratio remained at 1.20. Japan’s retail sales rose by 0.3% MOM in September, and annualized housing starts stood at 728,000 in September. Both Japan and South Korea’s industrial production data came in stronger than expected for September. Meanwhile, China’s October manufacturing PMI fell further into contractionary territory, as the country’s non-manufacturing PMI rose as expected just into expansionary territory. Australia’s Producer Price Index rose by 1.0% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) and 3.5% YOY for the third quarter.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is little changed following this week’s central bank meetings.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.4% lower at $60.31/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.5% lower at $4005.41/ounce.