US Stocks Close: Nasdaq Gains Over 1%, Philadelphia Semiconductor Index Rises Nearly 2%; Tech Stocks Strengthen, SpaceX Gains Nearly 8% Post-Earnings

TradingKey - On Wednesday, October 21, Eastern Time, tech stocks rallied, driving the three major U.S. stock indexes higher. SpaceX's third-quarter performance and news of its merger discussions with Tesla became the market focus, as AI-related stocks rebounded in tandem.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69% to 52,856.09 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.05% to 26,702.86 points; and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.58% to 7,757.17 points.

Tech Stock Performance

SpaceX (SPCX) rose 7.79% to $159.31.

SpaceX disclosed that its third-quarter revenue grew 161%, with its AI business expanding to nine times its previous size. Against the backdrop of recent investor focus on AI infrastructure spending and debt financing pressures, these results reignited market confidence in demand for related businesses. Elon Musk stated that SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to discuss a merger between the two companies. Currently, the relevant arrangements remain under discussion.

The performance of major tech stocks today is shown in the chart below:

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 1.97% to 11,505.56 points. Among its 30 constituents, 29 advanced and 1 declined.

Company News

Nvidia Unveils Multiple AI Products at GTC to Advance European Computing Infrastructure

Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang introduced several new products and partnerships at the GTC conference in Berlin on October 21, spanning modular AI data center design DSX POD, AI agent security architecture OpenShell, as well as robotics, autonomous driving, and healthcare. Nvidia stated that DSX POD completes equipment integration and testing prior to delivery, reducing deployment time at ready sites from about six months to as fast as 14 days, helping customers begin operations sooner. Delivery of the related systems is scheduled to begin in early 2027. Huang expects all telecom operators to provide AI computing power in the future, with base stations potentially evolving into distributed AI networks. He also stated that Nvidia has invested approximately $10 billion in European startups and partners over the past year.

Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion Fine Over Misleading Statements on Privacy and Content Moderation

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion civil penalty on October 21, according to the Associated Press. Earlier, a jury found that the company's misleading statements regarding user privacy and content moderation constituted more than 43 million violations of consumer protection law. The case involved Meta's statements on how user data is collected, protected, and shared, as well as the company's commitments to investigate following the Cambridge Analytica incident and its hate speech moderation policies. The New Mexico Department of Justice stated that the jury found the statements to be misleading. According to MarketWatch, Meta plans to appeal the ruling.

SK Hynix Completes Roughly 40 Trillion Won Buyback Ahead of Schedule, All Purchased Shares to Be Cancelled

SK Hynix has completed a stock buyback of approximately 40 trillion won over about two months, roughly one month ahead of the original November 19 deadline, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the company. Under its previously announced plan, the company intended to spend 40.0434 trillion won to buy back 24.07 million shares, accounting for approximately 3.3% of its total outstanding shares, all of which will be cancelled upon completion of the buyback. The size of this buyback and cancellation sets a record for listed companies in South Korea.

Industry & Macro News

Putin Agrees in Principle to Resume Russia-U.S.-Ukraine Trilateral Talks, Possibly in Early November

According to reports by Reuters and Axios, the Kremlin stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday that he agreed in principle to resume trilateral peace talks among Russia, Ukraine, and the United States around November 10, with Abu Dhabi as a potential venue. Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg for about three hours that day, presenting the latest proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict along with several related documents, while Jared Kushner attended the meeting via video link. Witkoff stated that progress had been made in the Oslo talks, expressing hope to resume trilateral negotiations and involve technical experts in discussions on specific issues. Putin also suggested that Russia is willing to explore playing a mediating role between the United States and Iran. The specific dates and venue for the trilateral talks have not yet been finalized.

Severe Security Vulnerabilities Exposed in PHP; European Entities Preemptively Shut Down Websites

Two severe security vulnerabilities were discovered in the widely used PHP programming language, prompting multiple European government departments and agencies to preemptively shut down some websites on Wednesday to protect system security. The PHP development team disclosed the vulnerabilities on Tuesday and released patched versions on Wednesday, urging users to update as soon as possible. Following reports that hackers were exploiting the vulnerabilities to breach websites, agencies in countries including the Netherlands and Finland took offline measures before the patches were released. Affected websites include the Dutch government portal Overheid.nl, the Port of Rotterdam, the Royal Dutch Football Association, as well as websites of several political parties and hospitals.