Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., Sept. 17, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures rose Monday after a sizable regional bank merger spurred enthusiasm a bigger M&A wave is on the way and as AMD shares surged on a partnership with OpenAI. The market continued to grind higher even as a government shutdown dragged on into a second week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 93 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.9%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are coming off their fourth weekly advance in five weeks, rising 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively. The Dow rose for the third time in four weeks, advancing 1.1%.
AMD shares jumped more than 30% in early trading after reaching a deal with Sam Altman’s AI leader that could ultimately end up giving the ChatGPT company a 10% stake in the chipmaker via a warrant with different tranches. AMD will use certain graphics processing units rolled out over multiple years. Nvidia, AMD’s main competitor in graphics processors, came under pressure in the premarket following that announcement.
Comerica shares rallied 14% after Fifth Third Bancorp reached a deal to buy the fellow regional bank for $10.9 billion in an all-stock transaction. The merger will form the ninth-largest U.S. bank by assets. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF jumped 1% in early trading on expectations more deals were ahead in the space. Overall M&A has been picking up, adding to the animal spirits seen in the stock market this year.
Investors shrugged off worries about the shutdown after lawmakers once again failed to reach a deal on funding to keep the government open. The shutdown delayed the release of key economic data — including the September jobs report — which was originally due Friday.
“As of now, the stock market is shrugging off the government shutdown, and is more focused on earnings optimism and the prospect of additional Federal Reserve rate cuts,” said Robert Edwards, chief investment officer at Edwards Asset Management. “Stocks tend to brush off government shutdowns as ‘Beltway blah blah blah’. Government shutdowns used to last for days, but now they can last for weeks, so investors may need to be patient.”
“We would consider any notable market dip from the shutdown as an ‘Investor Prime Day’ shopping opportunity,” he continued. “Even with the government shutdown and worries about the labor market, we believe the S&P 500 is on track to cross 7,000 by year-end.”
Despite the data blackout, several Federal Reserve officials are slated to speak this week, including Fed Governor Stephen Miran on Wednesday and Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday.