Key Highlights

  • Oracle finished among the top dozen performers in the S&P 500 on Friday, with no Oracle-specific announcement found beyond a minor mention in NetApp's expanded Partnership news.
  • The September jobs report showed just 29,000 jobs added against roughly 84,000 expected, cutting odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike and lifting information technology as the second-best S&P 500 sector.
  • Nvidia hit a record high, Hewlett Packard Enterprise closed at an all-time high, and Super Micro, Dell and NetApp all rose the same day, with the Nasdaq-100 closing at a record 30,807.93.
  • Oracle's heavy data-centre spending makes financing conditions especially relevant; a separate report said Amazon is in talks to Lease back about $8 billion of Nvidia chips through a special-purpose vehicle.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) has reinvented itself from a database software giant into one of the biggest builders of cloud capacity for artificial intelligence. On Friday, that reputation paid off. Shares jumped and finished among the top dozen performers in the S&P 500. No Oracle-specific announcement was found for the day. The stock moved with AI-infrastructure and cloud names as technology rebounded.

A Small Nod From NetApp

There was one minor piece of Oracle-related news. At its NetApp Insight conference, data-storage company NetApp announced an expanded partnership with Oracle, alongside a new AI factory architecture and a partnership with Super Micro Computer. NetApp's shares hit a 52-week high.

On its own, that was not the kind of news that typically moves a company of Oracle's size. But it fit neatly into the day's theme: companies building the plumbing for AI were in demand.

The Tech Rebound

The broader catalyst was the September jobs report. The US added just 29,000 jobs, well short of the roughly 84,000 expected, and earlier months were revised down. That sent traders scrambling to cut bets on another Federal Reserve rate hike in October, after the Fed's first increase since 2023 on September 16.

Technology stocks led the response. Information technology was the second-best sector in the S&P 500. Nvidia hit a record high during the session after Morgan Stanley named it its top semiconductor pick. Hewlett Packard Enterprise closed at an all-time high after raising its networking forecast. Super Micro, Dell and NetApp all rose. AI cloud providers CoreWeave and Nebius gained.

Broadcom made AI-finance headlines too, with a financing syndicate reportedly amassing about $60 billion to fund chips for Anthropic and other AI companies. Broadcom's shares were lower when the report hit in the morning but climbed by the close.

The Nasdaq-100 closed at a record 30,807.93, up 306.37 points. The S&P 500 rose 56.27 points to 7,722.72, and the Nasdaq Composite hit an intraday all-time high before settling at 27,190.86.

Debt and Yields: A Theme to Watch

Oracle has been spending heavily on data centres, and investors pay close attention to how such projects are financed. That makes the Bond Market especially relevant.

On Friday, Treasury yields fell after the jobs data but reversed to close higher, with the 10-year near its highest level since 2002. Financing AI infrastructure is becoming a story of its own: besides Broadcom's syndicate, a separate report said Amazon is in talks to move about $8 billion of Nvidia chips into a special-purpose vehicle and lease them back.

The market rally also remained narrow. Most S&P 500 stocks still trade below their 50-day moving averages, and investor sentiment, as measured by CNN's Fear & Greed Index, remained in Fear at 31.

Financing Will Shape the Next Leg

The Federal Reserve meets on October 27-28. A pause would help long-duration tech stocks, but Inflation data and oil prices could keep pressure on yields.

Earnings season starts soon, with PepsiCo on October 8, Delta on October 9 and the big banks on October 13 and 14. Analysts expect strong double-digit Earnings growth for the S&P 500 in the third quarter, with estimates raised during the quarter rather than cut. For Oracle, updates from cloud rivals and AI chip suppliers will be the main signals on demand.