Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on Oct. 14, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday night after strong bank earnings shifted investor focus from risks both at home and abroad as a U.S. government shutdown heads into its third week and escalating trade tensions with China persist.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%. S&P futures gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.5%.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares jumped more than 13% after the company beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations and Salesforce shares rose 6% after the company gave a strong forecast at its annual Dreamforce conference. Shares of United Airlines dipped 2%, on the other hand, after the airline’s revenue disappointed.
Stocks saw choppy trading on Wednesday, but both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended in the green as investors were encouraged by strong earnings from major banks.
Volatility has increased this week, particularly as tit-for-tat trade tensions have flared up between the U.S. and China. TheCboe Volatility Index (VIX), widely referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, finished the day at 20.6.
Stocks have seesawed since President Donald Trump on Tuesdaythreatened China with a cooking oil trade ban. The retaliatory move came as Beijing purchased fewer U.S. soybeans due to Trump’s tariffs implemented earlier this year. Trump has also threatened to place an additional 100% tariff on any goods coming from China in response to the country’s new export controls on rare earth minerals. The Trump administration plans to set price floors across a range of industries to combat market manipulation by China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday.
Investors are also keeping a watchful eye as the U.S. government shutdown continues for a third week. The stoppage has led to an indefinite shutdown of crucial economic data releases from federal agencies, giving traders less information at a time when concerns about the labor market, the effect of tariffs on consumers, high interest rates and historically elevated market valuations all remain top of mind.
LPL chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist pointed out that although the S&P 500 has seen a record-setting rally since the start of July, a closer look at market breadth trends show a deviation between price action and stocks’ participation in the run-up. The artificial intelligence trade has powered most of the S&P 500’s recent returns, with shares of technology giants Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Broadcom and Tesla collectively accounting for 60% of the broader market’s total return between July 1 and Oct. 14, he said.
“While the trend model shows that there are still more S&P 500 stocks trading in uptrends vs. downtrends, the narrowing gap highlights emerging cracks in the market’s foundation,” Turnquist said in a Wednesday note to clients. “These cracks can be repaired through broadening participation, but they also underscore the elevated concentration risk tied to a handful of dominant names driving the rally.”
Taiwan Semiconductor rises on big profit surge
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor traded more than 1% after the chipmaker reported a 39% profit surge. Revenue also jumped 30% from the year-earlier period.
“Recent developments in AI market continue to be very positive,” TSMC CEO C.C.Wei said in an earnings call, adding that increasing adoption of AI models by consumers has led to more demand for compute, and by extension, semiconductor products. “Thus, our conviction in the AI mega trend is strengthening,” he added.
Read more here.
— Dylan Butts
Treasury yields probably won’t fall far from where they are now, Capital Economics says
The drop in U.S. Treasury yields in the past week due to revived Sino-U.S. trade conflict is unlikely to extend much further, according to Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics.
The 10-year Treasury note yield briefly dropped as low as 4.00% Tuesday from 4.15% last Thursday. Yields were recently near 4.03%.
“We think the 10-year Treasury yields will not fall much further from here (given that the money market already discounts significant further Fed cuts), and is likely to pick up a bit next year,” Goltermann wrote Tuesday. “The re-escalation of U.S.-China tensions is a potentially significant challenge to that fairly optimistic view, but our sense is that policymakers will ultimately pull back from the brink rather than follow through in full on their recent threats.”
Price of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF since late last week
— Scott Schnipper
Salesforce shares jump after company gives optimistic 2030 forecast
Shares of business software maker Salesforcerose about 4% after Wednesday’s market close, after the company offered refreshingly rosy guidance.
The company issued new financial targets for the next few years and said it now expects over $60 billion in 2030, above the $58.37 billion consensus among analysts polled by LSEG. Salesforce’s guidance excludes impact from the pending acquisition of data management company Informatica.
Salesforce also called for an organic year-over-year revenue growth rate above 10% in the 2026 through 2030 fiscal years. The growth rate has been under 10% since mid-2024.
“We have had some lower-stage growth for a while. That is re-accelerating,” Robin Washington, Salesforce’s chief operating and financial officer, said during an investor briefing.
Shares of Salesforce have declined about 29% this year, significantly lagging tech peers. Read more on Salesforce’s results here.
— Jordan Novet, Pia Singh
J.B. Hunt, United Airlines, Zion among stocks making biggest moves in after-hours trading
Check out the companies making the biggest moves in extended trading:
- J.B. Hunt Transport Services— Shares of the trucking and logistics company jumped more than 12% in after-hours trading on the back of its strong results. For the third quarter, J.B. Hunt earned $1.76 per share on revenue of $3.05 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG, meanwhile, posted earnings of $1.46 per share on revenue of $3.03 billion.
- Zion Bancorp— Shares of the bank fell nearly 4% after Zion said it will write off $50 million to cover two loans taken out by borrowers that are facing legal action.
- United Airlines— Shares of the airline fell more than 2% after hours. Althoughearnings came in better than expected, revenue for the third quarter came up short. United expects to earn between $3 and $3.50 a share in the fourth quarter after adjustments.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise— Shares of cloud services provider fell about 8% after offering a weaker-than-expected fiscal 2026 forecast. The company expects to earn between $2.20 and $2.40 per share, on an adjusted basis, with revenue rising between 5% and 10%. The company also announced it would boost its dividend for fiscal 2026 by 10%, and increase its stock buybacks by $3 billion.
For the full list, read here.
— Christina Cheddar Berk