Abishai Financial Asia Reports S&P 500 Tech-Led Advance
AI chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Marvell carry the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record closes as Treasury yields ease and third-quarter earnings growth forecasts near 30% test how far equity valuations can still stretch
SINGAPORE, SG / ACCESS Newswire / October 13, 2026 / The S&P 500 sets a record this week, closing at 7,820.85 on Tuesday for its first finish above 7,800. Artificial intelligence stocks supply most of the momentum, lifting the Nasdaq Composite and the main chip index to records of their own. Analysts at Abishai Financial Asia Pte. Ltd. read the move as a contest between third-quarter profits forecast to grow at more than twice their long-run pace and borrowing costs still near a 24-year high.
Tuesday's session adds 45 points, or 0.6%, to the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq gains 0.5% to a record 27,599.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 51,521.22, while intraday gains on the Nasdaq reach 1.3% as institutional money returns to AI-linked positions after a turbulent stretch. The record, the benchmark's first since the summer, arrives as the bull market nears its fourth anniversary with cumulative gains of 118% since it began.
Bond markets provide much of the support, with the 10-year Treasury yield easing to 5.276% on Tuesday, a day after hitting a 24-year high. Softer monthly employment data shifts expectations for Federal Reserve policy and drives that retreat. Lower yields matter because they reduce the rate at which future profits are discounted, lifting the value of growth companies whose earnings lie furthest ahead.
Chipmakers lead that session, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index of the 30 largest US-listed chip stocks climbing 1.4% to a record. Marvell Technology gains about 6% on the day after raising its long-term outlook on strong AI-related bookings, backed by record second-quarter revenue of $2.9 billion, up 37% year on year. Management expects revenue of around $12.8 billion in fiscal 2027, rising to roughly $19.2 billion the following fiscal year, as hyperscale cloud operators build larger AI clusters that need faster, lower-latency connections.
Advanced Micro Devices rises about 4% to a fresh record in the same session, taking its gain over the past year to 290%. Chief executive Lisa Su confirms plans to raise chip supply substantially next year to meet anticipated demand, following second-quarter revenue of $12.3 billion, up 50% year on year. Nvidia adds roughly 2% on Tuesday from Monday's close of $255.5 a share, which values it at about $6.2 trillion, within 5% of $6.4 trillion.
The case for these valuations rests on earnings, with analysts forecasting third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of 29.5% on the comparable quarter a year earlier. That compares with a five-year average of 13.3% and a ten-year average of 12.6%. Daniel Coventry, Director of Private Equity at Abishai Financial Asia, sees the direction of revisions as decisive, observing that "what separates this rally from a purely speculative one is that analysts keep raising their numbers rather than cutting them."
The revisions data supports Coventry's reading, with estimates rising 1.4% over the third quarter. Across the past five years, the average quarter has seen estimates cut by 2.2%. Of the 116 index companies issuing guidance for the quarter, 72, or 62%, offer positive projections, well above the five-year average of 40%. Energy leads with projected third-quarter earnings growth of 114% year on year, helped by oil averaging $91.6 a barrel over the quarter versus $69.4 a year earlier, while information technology follows at 65% on the same basis.
Concentration is the most visible risk at record prices, with the Magnificent Seven's share of S&P 500 weight rising to nearly 35% from roughly 20% almost four years ago. Coventry frames the issue as one of portfolio construction, warning that "when seven companies make up roughly a third of the index, a portfolio that looks diversified on paper can behave like a single concentrated bet." Credit markets send quieter warnings, with leveraged loan spreads recently widening by 10 basis points after a run of corporate bankruptcies, while in equities the VIX touches a seven-month high. Such conditions tend to draw attention to stress testing and to options-based overlays, which typically gain when equities fall.
The coming reporting season is the next test of the rally, with results due against expectations that leave little room for disappointment. Coventry describes the weeks ahead as the moment when "the market discovers whether these prices reflect earnings power or simply enthusiasm for it." Abishai Financial Asia's view is that guidance, credit spreads and index concentration will say more about the durability of this advance than any single record close.
Abishai Financial Asia at a Glance
Founded in Singapore in 2010, Abishai Financial Asia Pte. Ltd. (UEN: 201016239E) is a research-led asset manager. In public markets it pursues risk-aware compounding through active equity selection, bottom-up research and disciplined rebalancing, reinforced by systematic tilts, opportunistic hedging and drawdown-aware controls. Governance rests on macro-aware risk budgeting, explicit limits, exposure, concentration and liquidity guardrails, stress testing and transparent attribution, with ongoing monitoring and clear commentary. ESG factors are weighed through sector and issuer assessments, engagement expectations and governance screens wherever financially material across the investment lifecycle. The firm is also exploring compliant routes that could, subject to suitability, extend selected solutions to retail-qualified investors over time. Further information is available at https://abishai.com; media enquiries go to Peng Joon at [email protected].
SOURCE: Abishai Financial Asia Pte. Ltd.