Stocks Close Higher as Chip Index Jumps 2.8% After Anthropic IPO Filing, While Meta Falls 1.9% on $95 Billion Equity Plan

Hours after Anthropic's public S-1 filing on Oct. 26, U.S. stocks closed higher, snapping a run of weakness in AI-linked shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 146.42 points, or 0.28%, to finish at 52,361.58. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, or 53.09 points, to 7,676.77. The Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.8%, or 214.04 points, to 26,169.38. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.1%.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were coming off back-to-back weekly losses.

Chips lead the move

Semiconductors did the heavy lifting. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.8%, its biggest gain since Sept. 21. Nvidia climbed 2.4%, Micron 3%, Broadcom 2.3% and Advanced Micro Devices 2.8%.

One day does not erase the damage. The chips index is still down 12.2% for October. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, SOXX, is down about 13% this month and roughly 25% from its high, which puts chipmakers in a bear market.

"The market needed this, just like it needed SpaceX," Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, said of Anthropic. "This is a big confidence booster, and I anticipate the demand is going to be there because people have been waiting and talking about this one for a long time."

Neocloud stocks, the companies that build and rent AI-dedicated computing infrastructure, also bounced. CoreWeave gained almost 2% and Iren 2.1%. That came even after Elon Musk said more than 200 companies in the space face "guppy-level death."

The cautious read

Not everyone is sold on the rebound. JP Powers, chief investment officer at RWA Wealth Partners in Boston, said the day was driven by the Anthropic release but that the document contains a lot to digest.

"It will be interesting to see how well things are received when they actually come to list," Powers said. He warned of "a little bit of a whipsaw if things aren't all moving in the same direction."

The AI trade has been under pressure this month over fears that debt-funded data center spending is getting harder to justify as borrowing costs climb.

Meta's equity raise

Not every AI name rose. Meta closed down 1.9% after saying it plans to raise up to $95 billion in equity to fund data centers, cloud computing capacity and other infrastructure.

Musk said over the weekend that SpaceX has closed a $40 billion debt deal for AI chips. That is a second large capital raise tied to AI buildout announced within days.

The IPO calendar is a different story. Companies have been delaying offerings this autumn because of market volatility, and Anthropic is moving ahead anyway. Its filing sets up a Nasdaq debut as soon as November under the ticker ANT. The prospectus contains no IPO valuation. The company was last valued at $965 billion in a spring funding round, and it had previously targeted a valuation of up to $2 trillion.

Oil and the Middle East

A decline in crude also helped. Brent futures fell 0.8% to settle at $115.81 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid 1.7% to $101.57. That is still elevated. Brent hit its highest level since April on Friday amid reports that the U.S. and Israel could be planning strikes on Iran after the midterm elections.

The week ahead

This is peak earnings week. A total of 163 S&P 500 companies are due to report third-quarter results, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon. Alphabet and Microsoft report Wednesday, Oct. 28. Investors will be looking for evidence that huge AI outlays are turning into growth, after Meta's report last week unnerved the market.

The Federal Reserve also announces its decision Wednesday. Fed funds futures point to a 90% likelihood that policymakers hold rates steady. After hotter-than-expected inflation data, many economists expect Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to lean toward what Yahoo Finance described as a "hawkish pause." The European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of Japan also meet this week. Economic growth and inflation readings land Thursday, Oct. 29.

It is unclear whether the Anthropic-fueled rally survives those results. A strong showing from the hyperscalers could extend it. Weak AI returns or a hawkish Fed could send chip stocks back toward their October lows.