As of press time,$Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$down 0.34%,$Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$down 0.48%,$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$Decreased by 0.36%.

Following the significant increase in employment numbers shown in last week's non-farm payroll report, the US Treasury bond yields surged, putting pressure on the US stock market.

On Monday morning, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose nearly 3 basis points, reaching 4.008%, the first time the yield has exceeded 4% since August.

US investors are also keeping an eye on the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Israel bombed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, the one-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks, which triggered a war between Israel and Gaza. The Israeli Defense Minister also announced that Israel will take all measures to retaliate against its enemy, Iran.

Due to the ongoing tension in the Middle East, the rise in oil prices has also put pressure on the stock market. On Monday morning, the US WTI crude oil futures price rose by over 2%, breaking through $76 per barrel.

Major US stock indices rose slightly last week.$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$They increased by 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.1% for the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average, respectively. All three indices have seen four consecutive weeks of gains.

The stronger-than-expected US September non-farm payroll report released last Friday provided further support for the view that the Federal Reserve may achieve a 'soft landing' for the US economy. After the report was published,$Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$Hit a new record high at close.

The September non-farm payroll report shows the largest six-month increase in employment, a decrease in the unemployment rate, steady wage growth, all of which indicate the economy's resilience and prompt the market to lower its expectations of a Fed rate cut.

After the employment data was released, the market expects the Fed to only cut rates by 25 basis points in November, instead of 50.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, traders are currently pricing in a 95% probability of the Fed cutting rates by 25 basis points at the next meeting, up from 47% a week ago, with a 5% probability of no rate cut at all.

Bank of America currently predicts the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at each meeting until March 2025, followed by another 25 basis points every quarter until the end of 2025.

Keith Lerner, the Chief Market Strategist at Truist Wealth, said: "Wall Street has two ancient sayings: don't fight the trend, and don't fight the Fed...these two are still two key pillars of today's stock market."

But Lerner warned that the imminent US presidential election and potential "October surprises" could maintain high market volatility in the coming weeks.

The market will focus on the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Thursday this week. The earnings season is also heating up.$Delta Air Lines (DAL.US)$and $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$ The financial reports of will be announced on Thursday and Friday respectively.

Focus stocks

Growth tech stocks are mixed, nvidia is up 0.59%, tesla is down 1.79%, amazon is down over 3%, apple is down 0.72%.

China concept stocks continue last week's upward trend, with Alibaba up 2.3%, jd.com up 0.13%, and li auto inc up more than 5%.

Driven by the rise in oil prices, US energy stocks are generally rising.

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ Up 1.58%, Phil Panaro, former senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group, believes that the continuous growth of artificial intelligence and the launch of Nvidia's next-generation Blackwell processor may increase Intel's annual revenue from $61 billion in the fiscal year 2024 to $600 billion in 2030.

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ Down 0.85%, brokerage Jefferies published a research report, downgrading Apple's rating from 'buy' to 'hold' with a target price of $205, citing 'overly high' expectations for the iPhone. Analyst Edison Lee of the firm wrote in a report to clients: 'We are bullish on Apple Intelligence in the long term, as Apple is the only company capable of providing low-cost, personalized artificial intelligence services through proprietary data as a software and hardware integrated enterprise. However, smart phone hardware needs to be redesigned to achieve true artificial intelligence, likely around 2026/27. In our view, the high expectations for the iPhone 16/17 are premature.'

$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$Down 0.22%, the company recently updated its official support document, indicating that the most recommended method to upgrade to Windows 11 is to purchase a new computer. It is understood that the support period for Microsoft Windows 10 is until October 14, 2025, after which Microsoft will no longer provide security updates and technical support for Windows 10.

$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ Down 3.07%, Wells Fargo & Co. downgraded Amazon's rating from overweight to equal weight with a target price of $183.

Editor/Rocky