Market Beats | US September Job Growth Falls Well Short of Expectations; Citadel Securities Takes Stake in Wolfe Research; Amazon Weighs $8 Billion Nvidia Chip Sale-and-Leaseback; Europe Considers Diesel Stock Release; Tesla Third-Quarter Deliveries Beat Estimates; Nvidia Shares Hit Record, Closing In on $6 Trillion Valuation; Broadcom Banks Prepare $60 Billion AI Chip Financing

—— US September Job Growth Falls Well Short of Expectations; Citadel Securities Takes Stake in Wolfe Research; Amazon Weighs $8 Billion Nvidia Chip Sale-and-Leaseback; Europe Considers Diesel Stock Release; Tesla Third-Quarter Deliveries Beat Estimates; Nvidia Shares Hit Record, Closing In on $6 Trillion Valuation; Broadcom Banks Prepare $60 Billion AI Chip Financing

1. US September Job Growth Falls Well Short of Expectations

US employers added fewer jobs than expected in September as wage growth slowed, signaling greater caution among companies facing rising costs.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 29,000 last month, according to Labor Department data released Friday, missing every estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Payroll growth for the previous two months was also revised lower. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, partly reflecting an expansion in the labor force.

Robust consumer spending and strong business investment have continued to support hiring, but increasingly cost-conscious employers have taken a measured approach to adding workers. That has resulted in uneven employment gains from month to month.

Layoffs, meanwhile, remain subdued, pointing to a labor market that is slowing without showing broad-based deterioration.

The softer employment report and slower wage growth also led traders to reduce bets on a Federal Reserve rate increase this month. The data give policymakers more room to focus on inflation while assessing the timing of any further rate moves.

“For the Fed, this number should be the nail in the coffin for an October hike,” said Thomas Simons, chief US economist at Jefferies LLC. “It now looks more likely that the policymakers emphasizing that they have some more time before another hike is needed will remain patient.”

The report is the last monthly jobs reading before the November midterm elections. The labor market remains part of the broader economic backdrop, alongside persistent concerns over the cost of living, even as consumer spending continues to hold up.

US stocks rose following the report, while Treasury yields fell and the dollar weakened.

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2. Citadel Securities Takes Stake in Wolfe Research

Citadel Securities is taking a minority stake in Wolfe Research as the trading firm seeks to win more equity-trading business and add research capabilities to its equities operation.

The market maker founded by Ken Griffin will execute trades for Wolfe’s clients and distribute the research firm’s work to its own customers for a fee. Wolfe Research founder and managing partner Ed Wolfe said Citadel Securities is the firm’s first outside investor. He declined to disclose the terms of the deal.

The partnership moves Citadel Securities further toward the business model of Wall Street banks, which often use research to generate activity in trading, investment banking and wealth management. By working with Wolfe rather than building the capability internally, Citadel Securities can add a research offering without the expense of developing one from scratch.

“We were missing a certain part of the equity flows because a certain aspect of these flows are directly tied to the research product,” Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito said in an interview. “Our goal is to execute as much of the global trading flows as possible, and the more we execute the more we improve pricing for our client.”

Wolfe founded Wolfe Research in 2008 after working as an analyst at Bear Stearns. The firm now provides quantitative analysis, equity research and macro research covering hundreds of companies, as well as economic and policy topics. It also operates a broker-dealer that serves as an underwriter for initial public offerings.

“We’re not interested in being part of a bank,” Wolfe said. “What we’re interested in is providing our clients with the best tools to not only use our research and analysts, but then be able to express their views through seamless execution capabilities.”

Citadel Securities rose to prominence during the meme-stock era and now handles more than a third of US retail stock trading. The firm has also been expanding its institutional trading business, including growing in fixed income and taking on larger equity orders.

The firm has also hired Scott Rubner, a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. known for making distinctive calls on equity markets. Rubner joined Citadel Securities’ institutional derivatives business last year, using the firm’s internal data to provide market insights and commentary.

A Citadel Securities spokesperson said Rubner’s reports will remain free for the firm’s clients, separate from research provided through Wolfe.

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3. Amazon Weighs $8 Billion Nvidia Chip Sale-and-Leaseback

Amazon is considering selling about $8 billion of advanced Nvidia chips to outside investors through a new special-purpose vehicle, then leasing the equipment back to support its US data centers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Seattle-based cloud company has held discussions with investors in recent weeks to gauge demand for the proposed transaction. Under the plan, thousands of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips deployed across Amazon’s US data centers would be transferred to the special-purpose vehicle, which would raise debt from outside investors to finance the purchase.

Amazon would then lease the chips back, allowing it to use the equipment while shifting ownership of the expensive semiconductors off its balance sheet. The structure would give Amazon a more asset-light way to fund its rapidly expanding AI infrastructure.

Amazon declined to comment.

The proposal comes as major technology companies look for new ways to finance the huge capital outlays required to build AI data centers. Chips used to train increasingly sophisticated AI models account for a significant portion of those costs.

Tech companies have been exploring structures that move debt or financing obligations away from their balance sheets as they seek to preserve their credit profiles. Some have used residual-value guarantees, giving lenders assurances about the future value of chips or data centers without directly borrowing to fund the projects. Such arrangements can make it harder for investors to assess the full amount of risk being assumed by the technology companies.

Investors expect the new entity could receive an investment-grade rating, supported by Amazon’s current double-A credit rating. That could broaden the pool of potential buyers to include insurance companies and pension funds.

Amazon also plans to sell as much as 10% of the equity in the vehicle to investors, meaning it would not retain an ownership stake in the entity.

Discussions between Amazon and investors are ongoing and the structure could change, the people said. The chips included in the proposed transaction were bought or leased by Amazon and have already been deployed at more than a dozen data centers across five US states, including Nevada and Virginia.

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4. Europe Considers Diesel Stock Release

European diesel prices fell sharply Friday morning as countries considered releasing 50 million barrels of diesel reserves amid pressure from the Trump administration to increase fuel supplies.

The continent’s benchmark diesel futures contract fell as much as 6% to $1,364 a ton, equivalent to about $185 a barrel. Traders were betting that European leaders could take action after a Group of Seven leaders meeting scheduled for Friday afternoon.

President Donald Trump has pressed Europe to release at least 100 million barrels of diesel to the market and threatened to ban US diesel exports if European countries fail to comply, according to two people familiar with discussions in Brussels.

The European Union is considering a French proposal under which European countries would release 50 million barrels of diesel from their reserves, while members of the International Energy Agency would release an additional 50 million barrels of crude oil. Talks remained ongoing ahead of the G7 meeting, and leaders had yet to decide the final volume and mix of any release.

Trump’s demand comes as his administration faces growing political pressure to bring down high fuel prices in the US ahead of the November midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake.

Trump has also said he is considering banning US refineries from selling diesel overseas, a move aimed at increasing domestic supplies as fuel prices remain elevated.

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5. Tesla Third-Quarter Deliveries Beat Estimates

Tesla Inc. reported better-than-expected vehicle deliveries for the third quarter, providing a sign of stability for its core automotive business as the electric-vehicle market faces a difficult period.

The automaker delivered 486,532 vehicles worldwide in the three months through September, according to a statement Friday. That topped the average estimate of 463,761 vehicles among analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

The stronger-than-expected result offers some relief for Tesla after a period of declining vehicle sales and weaker stock performance. The company has been under pressure from intense competition in China, a key market, as well as sluggish demand in the US.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is also working to shift Tesla’s focus toward artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots, with those businesses increasingly central to his vision for the company.

Still, third-quarter deliveries declined from the 497,099 vehicles Tesla delivered a year earlier. That record was partly driven by customers rushing to purchase electric vehicles ahead of the expiration of US federal incentives.

After two consecutive years of declining annual sales, Wall Street still expects Tesla to post modest sales growth this year.

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6. Nvidia Shares Hit Record, Closing In on $6 Trillion Valuation

Nvidia Corp. shares rose to a record on Friday for the first time since May as investors returned to the chipmaker following a two-month selloff that erased more than $1 trillion from its market value.

Shares of the world’s most valuable public company gained 2.9%, extending a nearly 25% rebound from a late-July low. The stock had come under pressure as investors grew more cautious about the outlook for artificial intelligence.

Sentiment has improved in recent weeks as investors increasingly bet that AI agents, including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Muse, could drive stronger demand for semiconductors.

Nvidia received another boost after announcing Monday that it would expand its share-buyback authorization by a record $150 billion.

The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker also unveiled a new two-layer AI security system designed to prevent AI agents from going off course. Nvidia said the system could have prevented the recent breach of Hugging Face involving OpenAI’s models, as investors have placed greater focus on AI safety.

Nvidia shares are up about 27% so far this year, putting the stock on track for a fourth straight year of double-digit returns. Its market capitalization now stands at roughly $5.7 trillion, less than $300 billion short of the $6 trillion mark, which would make Nvidia the first company in history to reach that valuation.

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7. Broadcom Banks Prepare $60 Billion AI Chip Financing

Broadcom Inc.’s Wall Street banking syndicate is preparing $60 billion of new financing for AI chips that could benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Banks involved in the package, including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley, are preparing to send syndication letters for a $42 billion Class A senior-secured tranche, the people said. The deal has not yet been announced, and the people asked not to be identified discussing it.

Blackstone Inc. is leading an $18 billion Class B junior-debt tranche and has committed $9 billion through various funds, according to the people. The remainder of the tranche will also be syndicated to investors.

The financing has been taking shape for several weeks and is being closely watched across Wall Street and Silicon Valley as a test of investor appetite for the AI buildout. That appetite is facing greater scrutiny as public opposition to the construction of data centers increases.

Broadcom is seeking to expand sales of AI chips and other data-center equipment, putting it in greater competition with Nvidia Corp. At the same time, AI companies including Anthropic continue to require increasing amounts of computing capacity.

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