Wall Street Breathes Again: Tech Rips Higher as Shutdown Deal Inches Closer

With input from CNBC, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, Business Insider, Reuters, and Bloomberg.

Stocks snapped back Monday as the Senate cleared a key procedural hurdle toward reopening the government, flipping investors back into risk-on mode.

The scoreboard

• Dow: +302 points (+0.6%)

• S&P 500: +1.4%

• Nasdaq Composite: +2.1%

Big AI winners did the heavy lifting. Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, Palantir, Alphabet, Tesla — all green. Microsoft climbed almost 1%, finally on track to end an eight-session skid, its longest since 2011.

A Senate procedural vote — requiring at least 60 “yes” votes — advanced a funding deal that would:

• Reopen most of the government into January

• Reverse some recent mass federal layoffs and add worker protections

• Exclude an extension of ACA subsidies (for now), but promise a December vote on them

Next stops: a final Senate vote, then the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson urged members back to D.C. for a vote this week.

Shutdown jitters and worries over stretched AI valuations smacked markets last week — the Nasdaq had its worst week since April, while the S&P 500 and Dow shed more than 1%. Consumer mood cratered too: a University of Michigan survey showed sentiment at a 3+ year low, just above record-worst levels. The shutdown also froze key reports like CPI and PPI, leaving Wall Street and the Fed flying half-blind.

“November’s been bumpy,” said Tim Holland of Orion, citing froth fears in AI and the shutdown.

Knock one big worry off the list, he added, and the outlook brightens: year-end seasonality, ~13% projected earnings growth, and—if government reopens—more clarity on data and policy.

Under the hood: movers and themes

• AI & megacaps: Nvidia up ~4–5% intraday; AMD ~3–4%; Broadcom ~2%. The “Mag Seven” were broadly higher as the Nasdaq 100 rebounded almost 2%.
• Airlines: Popped premarket on shutdown optimism (United, Delta, American +~2%), reflecting hopes for fewer FAA disruptions heading into Thanksgiving.
• Crypto & gold: A classic risk-on cocktail — Bitcoin climbed toward $106,000, Ethereum around $3,600; gold also spiked ~2% near $4,100/oz.
• Rates & bonds: The 10-year Treasury edged up (yields higher), as safety trades unwound.
• Single-stock action:

• • TreeHouse Foods soared 23% on a buyout by Investindustrial (enterprise value near $3B).

  • CarMax slid after a Morgan Stanley downgrade (execution concerns, CEO departure).

  • Six Flags fell ~7% on another MS downgrade (pricing power, seasonality, lower-income consumer softness).

  • Instacart popped premarket on upbeat results and guidance.

  • Health insurers (Centene, Humana, Elevance) slumped after a shutdown deal without immediate ACA subsidy extension.

What pros are watching next

• Final votes: Senate, then House—timing matters for data releases (CPI, PPI, retail sales) and the Fed’s December calculus.
• Fed speakers/data: With official reports delayed, private indicators took the wheel; a reopen restores the government data firehose. Fed Gov. Stephen Miran floated 50 bps as “appropriate” for December — still contingent on incoming data.
• AI trade durability: Last week’s selloff raised questions about monetization and circular spending; today’s bounce doesn’t settle that debate.
• Tariff headlines: A potential SCOTUS ruling trimming tariffs would be a tailwind for cyclicals, exporters, and EMs, per JPMorgan.

Call it the reopening trade. One procedural vote doesn’t end the longest shutdown on record, but it shrinks the tail risk that had markets on edge. With earnings still largely resilient and a seasonal tailwind at the door, dip buyers finally got the green light — especially across big tech and AI. Now the market wants the sequel: actual passage, data back online, and a cleaner read on the Fed’s next move.