The latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey published earlier this week showed takers anticipate the tech giants will take the lead again. A combined 75% expect the “Magnificent Seven” to either beat or perform in line with the rest of the market this quarter. One reason investors remain bullish is that the bulk of the S&P 500’s earnings growth still comes from the Magnificent Seven.

“Expectations for the next few quarters still favor technology driving the earnings growth bus and the ‘Mag Seven’ is obviously driving technology earnings,” said Nancy Tengler at Laffer Tengler Investments.

One event that tech-stock watchers will be focusing on is Nvidia Corp.’s earnings, to be released in November. The company’s last report drove the chipmaker’s shares down in the following days. This time around, the biggest group of survey respondents, 45%, see the results pushing the stock up. Nvidia has been the poster child for the boom in AI technology, with its stock almost tripling this year.

“Earnings season is heating up and we will soon hear from big tech companies and the latest on their artificial intelligence spend,” said David Laut at Abound Financial. “For big tech, this is the show me the money quarter, as investors are becoming impatient with AI spend that may or may not yield extra profits. Tech valuations are priced for perfection and any disappointment could spark a pullback.”F

rom a fundamental standpoint, sales growth for the “Big Three” — Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple — is expected to lag the rest of the tech sector — but seen accelerating though the end of 2025, with the rest of the industry expected to decelerate, according to Ryan Grabinski at Strategas Securities.

“However, the acceleration the ‘Big Three’ group is expected to see in net income is likely to keep a bid toward the names compared to the rest of the index,” he noted.

Grabinski also said that perhaps most interesting is that the margin expansion expected to occur for the tech sector is not heavily concentrated in the “Big Three”. In fact, the contribution for them is expected to remain static at about 45% through the end of 2025, he noted.

Big tech has wavered lately. While most of this year’s S&P 500 record highs occurred during low VIX Index readings, all-time highs set in recent weeks have accompanied wider price swings. This isn’t necessarily something to worry about.

“Periods of rising volatility within bull markets are not necessarily cause for concern but rather an indication of a maturing rally,” note strategists at Tier 1 Alpha.

Risk assets remain in the throes of a powerful year-end rally consistent with our 6,200 S&P 500 target, according to Rich Ross at Evercore.

He noted that advance would be driven by aa bullish expansion of breadth across “Big Tech, Banks, Bullion and Bitcoin” and set against a Goldilocks (“not too hot, not too cold”) macro backdrop.

Sentiment among US consumers increased in October to a six-month high as households grew more upbeat about buying conditions. They expect prices will climb at an annual rate of 2.7% over the next year, unchanged from the prior month. And see costs rising 3% on average over the next five to 10 years, down from 3.1% in the prior month.

“Certainly better news for Jerome Powell and Company,” said Jeff Roach at LPL Financial. “Consumers feel confident that inflation is easing. Investors are anticipating next Friday’s employment release as the Fed attempts to stick the soft landing.”

Treasury traders are wrapping up a tumultuous week in which a gauge of bond-market volatility soared to a new high for the year, suggesting more upheaval to come.

The severity of this week’s back and forth suggests even greater volatility in coming days, when the US bond market must weather a myriad of events — from key jobs data, to the US election, to a meeting by the Fed. The ICE BofA Move Index, which tracks expected swings in Treasuries in the coming month, climbed to the highest level this year on Tuesday.

October’s jobs report will likely register the first negative payroll print in about four years, according to Anna Wong at Bloomberg Economics. While analysts may discount the weakness due to transitory weather effects, she says cyclical factors will also play a substantial role.

“We look for a downshift in payroll growth to 120,000 in October and a steady unemployment rate,” said BNP Paribas economists. “We expect Fed officials to look through the weak number given negative storm and strike effects.”

“If the report proves surprisingly strong on all key dimensions though, we expect it would add to murmurs of a Fed pause as early as December. Even so, a near-term pivot could prove difficult given inflation progress and the consensus Fed view that policy rates are still restrictive,” they said.

Corporate Highlights:

• Boeing Co. is exploring a sale of its space division as the troubled planemaker’s new leader looks to streamline and focus the company on its core operations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Apple Inc. was downgraded to underweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, which questioned the company’s lofty growth expectations.

• Capital One Financial Corp. posted a profit that beat Wall Street estimates on strength in its credit-card and auto-lending businesses.

• A federal judge blocked the planned $8.5 billion acquisition by Tapestry Inc., maker of Coach and Kate Spade handbags, of rival Capri Holdings Ltd., sending Capri tumbling.

• Centene Corp. jumped after the health insurer’s’ third-quarter profits exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, a relief for investors braced for a tough quarter.

• Deckers Outdoor Corp. rallied after the maker of Hoka running shoes and UGG boots posted sales that beat the average analyst estimate and boosted its sales forecast for the year.

• Western Digital Corp. reported adjusted first-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Analysts note that the company’s NAND flash memory segment is holding up better than expected.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 was little changed as of 2:16 p.m. New York time

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%

• The MSCI World Index was little changed

• KBW Bank Index fell 1.5%

• Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.1%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%

• The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0800

• The British pound was little changed at $1.2964

• The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 152.15 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $66,851.04

• Ether fell 2% to $2,485.05

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.22%

• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.29%

• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.23%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.2% to $71.70 a barrel

• Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,743.55 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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