A directionless start to November – tech stocks with AI potential perform strongly – Amazon gains significantly, Nvidia continues to climb, Kimberly-Clark falters

US stock markets had a mixed start to November. While the Dow Jones declined on Wall Street, technology stocks on the Nasdaq continued their upward trend, driven by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.48 percent lower at 47,336.68 points on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.17 percent to 6,851.97 points. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.44 percent to 25,972.94 points, bringing the tech-heavy index closer to its record high of 26,182 points from the previous week.

Artificial intelligence remains a hot topic on global stock exchanges, with major US corporations constantly forging new international agreements. This trend continued on Monday with further multi-billion-dollar partnerships.

ChatGPT developer OpenAI, seeking more computing power for its AI offering, signed a contract with Amazon's cloud subsidiary AWS. The $38 billion deal grants OpenAI access for an initial period of seven years to "hundreds of thousands" of chip systems from semiconductor company Nvidia, specifically designed for running artificial intelligence. Amazon's stock reached a record high.

Nvidia shares continued to rise. This followed an analyst report at Loop Capital Markets raising their price target for the semiconductor company's stock to $350, which would equate to a market capitalization of more than $8.5 trillion. Nvidia recently became the first company in the world to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion.

Microsoft has entered into a partnership with Australian data center provider Iren. As part of the deal, the software giant is purchasing cloud capacity worth $9.7 billion. Iren's shares traded in the United States jumped 8.9 percent.

US pharmaceutical company Lilly plans to build a new $3 billion plant in the Netherlands. The facility, located in the coastal town of Katwijk, will produce orally administered medications and create 500 new jobs. Lilly's stock rose by 3.6 percent.

In the small-cap sector, shares of hygiene product manufacturer Kimberly-Clark fell by a good 13 percent. A takeover bid for consumer health specialist Kenvue, whose shares jumped by almost 15 percent, was blamed for the decline.

(With material from dpa-AFX.)