This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Exuberant stocks
U.S. stocks enjoyed a broad rally Thursday, with all 11 S&P 500 sectors ending the day in positive territory. Bond yields declined. Asia-Pacific markets are ending the week in positive territory. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index popped around 2.1%, even as the city's private sector activity contracted further in October. Meanwhile, China's service sector activity in the same month rebounded slightly.
Guilty verdict
A jury has found Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven criminal counts against him. Among those charges are wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Bankman-Fried's trial began in October, and saw his former top lieutenants testifying against him. The FTX founder faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.
Apple's not growing
Apple shares slipped 3.4% in extended trading after the technology giant reported earnings. Even though Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter results beat expectations for sales and earnings per share, investors were dismayed the company's overall sales fell for the fourth quarter in a row — and that it may not return to growth in the holiday quarter. But Apple's still huge, with $162.1 billion in cash on hand.
AI replacing all jobs?
Artificial intelligence could eventually replace everyone's jobs, predicted Elon Musk. Speaking after the conclusion of an AI summit the U.K., Musk said "You can have a job if you wanted to have a job for personal satisfaction. But the AI would be able to do everything." Musk previously called for a pause in AI development, warning it could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons.
[PRO] Stocks or bonds?
With bond yields hitting their highest in 16 years recently, it's clear the bond market has been experiencing a sell-off. (When bond yields go up, prices go down.) But stocks aren't doing too hot either — the S&P 500's attempting to claw out of a three-month losing streak. CNBC Pro pored over Wall Street commentary to find out which asset the pros favor during this volatile period.
The bottom line
It was an astounding day for markets, with everything falling into place as perfectly as investors could have hoped for. Then the Apple fell from the tree, rather imperfectly.
The positives, first. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped around 12 basis points to touch 4.661%. That's a drastic fall from around three weeks ago, when the Treasury breached the 5% level.
Falling bond yields benefit stocks in two ways: They create less incentive for investors to park their money in fixed income, driving them back to riskier assets like stocks. They also lower the cost of borrowing in the economy, potentially stimulating growth, which, ultimately, drives stocks higher. (Though not always — investors seemed spooked by the incredible GDP print of the U.S. last quarter.)
Additionally, there were signs inflation in the U.S. was tapering off. Labor costs actually fell for a three-month period ending September — compared with an expected increase — while unemployment claims ticked up. Those statistics are likely to reassure the Fed the labor market isn't heating up again, for now.
Stocks soared on those developments. The S&P 500 popped 1.89%, its best day since April and the first time since February the index has gained more than 1% consecutively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7%, the highest daily gain since June. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.78% for a five-day winning streak and its best session since July.
All indexes are on pace to post a weekly increase of around 5%.
But before investors celebrate prematurely, there's Apple results to digest. Even though the company beat earnings and revenue expectations, its hardware business, outside the iPhone, has been struggling for over a year. Apple, with a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, is the S&P's biggest constituent. A tiny move in Apple's shares will have an outsized impact on the index — and it's already dropped 3.4% in extended trading.
The October jobs report, out later today, will be another high-impact event for markets. Economists are expecting an increase of 170,000 payrolls. Any number drastically higher could move stocks markedly lower. We're coming off a string of positive events, but sentiment is still fragile. One bad apple could ruin the whole meal.
