NASDAQ SETS A RECORD WHILE BOND YIELDS SIT AT MULTI YEAR HIGHS AND THE DOW REFUSES TO JOIN

The Nasdaq Composite hit a record on Monday as money went back into the largest technology names, even with Treasury yields still at levels that usually punish expensive stocks.

Reuters, at 10.19 a.m. Eastern on 5 October, had the Nasdaq up 167.85 points, or 0.62 percent, at 27,360.28, a new high. The S&P 500 was up 30.33 points, or 0.39 percent, at 7,753.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 66.35 points, or 0.13 percent, at 51,110.61. Later in the session, Quartz put the Nasdaq close at 27,409.21, up about 0.8 percent, with the S&P 500 up about 0.6 percent and the Dow up about 0.1 percent. TradingView’s afternoon print was 27,403.57. The records agree. The Dow does not.

Nvidia was up 1.1 percent in the Reuters snapshot and still near the record it set in the previous session. Meta, Microsoft and Tesla were each up more than 1 percent at that hour. Later reports had Meta and Tesla closer to 2 percent, Microsoft still above 1 percent, and SpaceX up about 5 percent. Intel moved the other way, down more than 1.5 percent, after reports of possible cooperation between Taiwan Semiconductor and Elon Musk’s Terafab project.

The single-stock shock was PTC. Schneider Electric agreed to buy the Boston industrial software firm for about $22.6 billion, or $205 a share in cash, a 42.3 percent premium to Friday’s close. Including debt, the enterprise value is $23.7 billion. Both boards have approved it. It still needs a majority of PTC shareholders and is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027. Schneider said it expects €250 million in annual cost savings by year three and about €800 million in revenue synergies. Reuters reported PTC up 34.4 percent in premarket trading. TipRanks later had the shares up about 37 percent near $198. Schneider’s own shares fell nearly 10 percent, wiping close to €15 billion off its market value, on worry that the software it is buying is exposed to the same AI disruption investors have been marking down.

The rally sat on an awkward backdrop. The 10-year Treasury yield was around 5.30 percent, with later prints at 5.298 percent and 5.33 percent. The 30-year was near 5.66 to 5.68 percent. Those are multi-year highs, and they are the reason the Dow lagged. Last week’s softer jobs data had reduced the odds of an October rate increase, which helped the Nasdaq into Monday. Fresh Institute for Supply Management data then showed services activity at 54.9 in September, in line with forecasts and slower than August. Expansion, not acceleration.

Citi strategist Beata Manthey noted that world equities are up about 12 percent this year and near records, even with higher borrowing costs. Monday’s tape says the market is still willing to pay up for the AI names. It does not say the bond market has agreed.