Is Big Pharma's Next Target Already in Play?

A small biotech may have cracked one of medicine's biggest problems-how to deliver cancer drugs safely and effectively. With patented technology and promising early data, it's already catching the attention of Big Pharma.

Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones Futures Rise— Micron, Bitmine, Coinbase In Focus

Rishabh Mishra
October 20, 2025

U.S. stock futures rose on Monday following Friday’s advances. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump again warned that the U.S. economy would face significant challenges if the Supreme Court rules against the majority of the tariffs imposed this year.

Investors will watch out for major earnings this week, which includes Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ INTC), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG)

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.01% and the two-year bond was at 3.47%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 98.9% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates in its October meeting.

FuturesChange (+/-)
Dow Jones0.18%
S&P 5000.25%
Nasdaq 1000.32%
Russell 20000.66%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Monday. The SPY was up 0.21% at $665.81, while the QQQ advanced 0.34% to $605.98, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Stocks In Focus

Cleveland-Cliffs

  • Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) rose 1.13% in premarket on Monday as analysts expect it to report a quarterly loss at 48 cents per share on revenue of $4.90 billion before the opening bell.
  • CLF maintained a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor growth ranking, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings. Additional performance details are available here.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings for CLF.

Micron Technology

  • Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was up 3.27% following a Reuters report that the company will stop providing server chips to data centers in China.
  • Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MU had a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a strong quality score. Additional performance details are available here.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings for MU.

Moderna

  • Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was 0.65% higher after the government’s renewed national immunization strategy to combat rising COVID-19 variants.
  • MRNA maintained a strong price trend over the short term but weaker trend in the medium and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings. Additional information is available here.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings for MRNA.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies

  • Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BMNR) jumped 6.10% after the co-founder and CEO Tom Lee announced that the digital asset treasury (DAT) firm will be launching a staking solution "very soon."

Coinbase Global

  • Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) shares advanced 3.58% after the company unveiled an all-in-one financial platform for small and medium businesses, enabling them to receive crypto, manage assets, and earn up to 4.1% APY on USDC stablecoins.
  • COIN maintained a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings for COIN.

Cues From Last Session

The market ended on a broadly positive note on Friday, with most sectors finishing higher. Consumer Staples was the top-performing sector, posting a significant gain of +1.23%. Other strong performers included Financials and Energy. On the negative side, only two sectors declined; Utilities was the biggest laggard, followed by Materials.

All three benchmark indices logged weekly gains, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.63%, the Nasdaq Composite up 0.45% and the Dow Jones rising by 0.52%.

IndexPerformance (+/-)Value
Nasdaq Composite0.52%22,679.98
S&P 5000.53%6,664.01
Dow Jones0.52%46,190.61
Russell 2000-0.60%2,452.17

Insights From Analysts

As markets head into the trading day, analysts are highlighting robust corporate performance while also flagging growing pressures on the American consumer.

Charlie Bilello, Chief Market Strategist at Creative Planning, pointed to the strength of the current earnings season as the key driver for record-high markets.

With 10% of companies having reported, Bilello notes, “S&P 500 operating earnings are expected to hit another record high (TTM), up 10% over the last year.” He emphasized that the underlying fundamentals remain “very positive” and that the main driver for the market is “earnings, earnings, earnings.”

Conversely, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, shed light on a significant headwind from tariffs. Citing Goldman Sachs research, Detrick warned that the cost burden is shifting away from businesses and onto shoppers.

While “consumers are paying 37% of the tariffs” currently, he noted, “it’ll eventually be 55%.” This analysis suggests that as US businesses reduce their share of the cost from 51% down to 22%, the resulting squeeze on consumers could challenge future spending and corporate profitability.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on this week;

  • On Monday, the U.S. leading economic indicators will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.
  • On Tuesday, Fed governor Christopher Waller would speak at 10:00 a.m. ET.
  • On Wednesday, Fed governor Michael Barr will speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.
  • On Thursday, the initial jobless claims data for the latest week will be delayed because of the impending shutdown. Existing home sales for September will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
  • Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will testify before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee at 10:00 a.m., and Fed Governor Michael Barr will speak at 10:25 a.m. ET.
  • On Friday, the delayed headline and core Consumer Price Index data for September will be released at 8:30 a.m.
  • October’s S&P flash U.S. services PMI and manufacturing PMI will be out by 9:45 a.m., and September new home sales data will be delayed due to the impending shutdown.

Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.42% to hover around $56.91 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.18% to hover around $4,262.79 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,379.44 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.05% higher at the 98.4870 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 4.45% higher at $111,240.79 per coin.

Asian markets closed higher on Monday as South Korea's Kospi, India’s NIFTY 50, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Australia's ASX 200, China’s CSI 300, and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices rose. European markets were higher in early trade.

Read Next:

  • Nvidia’s Real ‘Bottleneck’ Isn’t Chips, It’s Power, Says Beth Kindig, Tech Analyst Shares What It Means For AI Investors

Photo: Zakharchuk / Shutterstock

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