Markets
Markets Today: Nasdaq Sets Record as AI Stocks Rally — Bitcoin Holds Near $86K (October 5, 2026)
Nasdaq hit a record high Monday as AI stocks rallied; Bitcoin held near $86K; Cardano jumped 11%. 10-year yields hit a 24-year high.
Updated October 5, 2026 — stock prices as of the US market close (4 p.m. ET). Crypto trades around the clock, so treat these as a snapshot, not a live quote. Not financial advice.
Monday brought the best of both worlds for stock investors: the Nasdaq closed at a record high and the S&P 500 came within 0.3% of its own record — even as the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in 24 years. Artificial intelligence stocks did the heavy lifting, with Nvidia closing at an all-time high and SpaceX jumping 7.6%. Bitcoin held its ground near $86,000, close to a nine-month high, while Cardano surged 11% to lead the altcoin pack.
Crypto snapshot
| Asset | Price | 24h change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | ~$86,200 | up ~1.5-2.5% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | ~$2,712 | up ~0.7-1% |
| Total crypto market cap | ~$2.93 trillion | up ~1-2% |
Bitcoin traded around $86,200 on Monday, up roughly 1.5-2.5% over 24 hours and hovering near a nine-month high (CryptoPotato). The $87,000 level proved stubborn again — Bitcoin briefly touched it early Monday before sellers stepped in, the third rejection at that zone in recent weeks (CryptoPotato). Ethereum held above $2,700 with a market cap near $331 billion. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 70 ("Greed"), and about $130 million in leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours — mostly bearish short bets wiped out by the recovery (BlockchainReporter).
Stock market snapshot
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,773.95 | up 0.7% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 27,477.31 | up 1.1% (record close) |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 51,267.90 | up 0.2% |
The Nasdaq set a new intraday and closing record at 27,477.31, while the S&P 500 finished within 0.3% of its August 13 record and the Dow edged 0.2% higher (Investopedia). Every S&P 500 sector except Real Estate closed in the green. The rally came despite the 10-year Treasury yield touching 5.35% intraday and settling at 5.31% — its highest level since April 2002, a 24-year high (MarketWatch).
Today's winners and losers
Crypto gainers: Cardano (ADA) led the top-100 cryptocurrencies with an 11% jump to about $0.27 on $1.09 billion in volume — the strongest large-cap move of the day, and enough volume that analysts are asking whether capital is starting to rotate from Bitcoin into altcoins (CryptoPotato; BlockchainReporter). Stellar (XLM) rose 3.5% and NEAR Protocol gained 3.3% and reclaimed the $5 level (BlockchainReporter). Crypto losers: Monero (XMR) fell 2.3% and Zcash (ZEC) slipped 0.8%, extending a 15% slide over the past week (BlockchainReporter).
Stocks: PTC surged 34% after French electrical-equipment maker Schneider Electric agreed to buy the industrial-software company for $22.6 billion in cash at $205 a share — a 42% premium (Barron's). Vaxcyte jumped 31% on late-stage trial results for its vaccine candidate (Barron's). Brazil-linked stocks soared after a surprise first-round election upset: XP Inc. rose 33% for its biggest single-day gain ever, MercadoLibre climbed 9.7% and fintech Nu jumped 14% (Barron's). SpaceX rallied 7.6% to its highest close since June, pushing Elon Musk back to trillionaire status (Investor's Business Daily). Nvidia rose 2.1% to a new all-time closing high of $237.67, while Visa (+2.5%) and TSMC (+3%) also shone (Barron's). Losers: Intel fell 1.9% after Elon Musk confirmed TSMC is in talks with his chip venture Terafab; Merck dropped 3.2% as the Dow's worst performer; C.H. Robinson slid 9.7% after agreeing to acquire freight company RXO for $5.8 billion, and RXO jumped 24% on the news (Barron's).
What's driving the moves
- Falling rate-hike odds are the market's fuel. Friday's weak September jobs report (29,000 payrolls vs ~84,000 expected) crushed expectations for another Fed rate hike: traders now see only a 22-24% chance of a hike at the late-October Fed meeting, down from 64-71% a week ago, per CME FedWatch (Investopedia).
- Bond yields hit a 24-year high — and stocks didn't care. The 10-year Treasury ended at 5.31%, its highest since April 2002, as oil-driven inflation fears and the strong economy kept yields elevated. Normally that would pressure stocks; Monday's resilience surprised, though strategists warned high rates are still the rally's biggest threat (MarketWatch; Investopedia).
- AI spending momentum keeps lifting tech. The Nasdaq's record was driven by "a handful of the largest stocks: Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta and Tesla," Eric Diton of The Wealth Alliance said in commentary, adding that the rally may struggle to broaden while rates keep climbing and the Iran war continues (Investopedia).
- Oil eased on supply relief, but war risk lingers. Brent settled near $100 a barrel (down ~2%) and WTI slipped to about $90.60 as the G7 agreed to release 100 million barrels from emergency reserves over four months, Saudi Aramco cut its Asian benchmark prices to the lowest since 2020, and Middle East exports recovered — though attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz continued (RoydadNaft; New York Post). PVM Oil Associates' Tamas Varga noted the geopolitical risk premium "stays elevated" with no Middle East truce in sight (RoydadNaft).
- Social-media mood: crypto traders are debating whether Cardano's 11% surge marks the start of a "liquidity rotation" from Bitcoin into altcoins; on stock-trading feeds, Monday's hot topics were Musk's return to trillionaire status on SpaceX's pop and whether surging yields finally kill the equity rally.
What investors are watching next
- October 7 — Fed meeting minutes (Wednesday). The minutes from September's FOMC meeting could shift October hike odds either way; Fed Governor Phillip Jefferson has already hinted the Fed may hold rates steady this month (Investopedia).
- October 14 — September CPI. The inflation reading lands days before the October 27-28 FOMC meeting and could swing rate expectations back if it runs hot.
- Q3 earnings start this week. Delta, PepsiCo, Levi Strauss and Applied Digital report before the real earnings season begins mid-October, led by the big banks — how companies talk about AI spending and costs will set the tone for the Nasdaq's record chase (Investor's Business Daily).
- Crypto catalysts: Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade activates on the Sepolia testnet October 6, and the TOKEN2049 crypto conference runs in Singapore October 7-8 (BlockchainReporter).
Bottom line: Monday was a day of contradictions — record stocks, near-record crypto, and a 24-year high in yields all at once. The soft jobs report gave the Fed cover to pause, and that bet is carrying both markets. But with inflation data and Fed minutes landing this week, the rally is living on a "the Fed stays put" assumption that could change fast. This is not financial advice.