Nasdaq Gains as Small Caps Climb, Gold Jumps, Oil Slips

U.S. stocks finished mixed Wednesday, with growth shares in the lead as investors weighed upbeat bank and semiconductor updates against persistent bubble chatter. The Nasdaq Composite rose 148.38 points, or 0.66%, to 22,670.1, while the S&P 500 added 26.74 points, or 0.40%, to 6,671.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 16.96 points, or 0.04%, to 46,253.5. Small caps outperformed, with the Russell 2000 up 1.01% to 250.40.

Commodity moves underscored the day’s risk-on tilt in tech alongside haven demand: gold futures for December settled at $4,226.00, up 1.50%, even as crude oil for November slipped 0.17% to $58.60.

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Strategists at Citi said U.S. equities have already entered bubble territory —but urged investors to remain allocated while tightening risk controls. On Citi Research’s “Markets Edition: The Bubble Playbook” podcast , Dirk Willer, Citi’s global head of macro strategy and asset allocation, said, “If something goes up by more than two standard deviations against the long-term trend in real terms, we call it a bubble. We use prices for that, not valuation.” He added, “The first is, when you enter bubble territory, you buy the market. Only in 1929 did the market go straight down.” Willer also said, “We don’t think we’re close to the end,” pointing to the typical lag between equity peaks and capital-expenditure peaks. Adam Pickett, who leads global quant macro strategy at Citi, flagged a key constraint: “When this indicator goes above 17, that’s a line in the sand to get out of risk.”

Sentiment remains taut. A Bank of America fund-manager survey shows a large number calling AI a bubble; Bloomberg reported that “about 54% of participants indicated tech stocks were looking too expensive,” highlighting investor ambivalence even as megacaps continue to steer the tape.

Earnings helped markets move higher. Morgan Stanley posted $18.2 billion in Q3 net revenue and $4.6 billion in net income, with strength in Institutional Securities and record Global Wealth Management revenue. Bank of America reported $8.5 billion in profit as net interest income and trading topped expectations. Meanwhile, chip-equipment maker ASML beat profit expectations , logged €5.4 billion in bookings with €3.6 billion from EUV systems, and reaffirmed growth through 2025 despite caution on 2026 China demand—news that supported the AI-hardware supply chain.