Market optimism that a looming government reopening will remove a near-term source of policy and fiscal risk helped lift technology and media shares and revive the Nasdaq, even as earnings season produced a stark set of winners and losers that kept overall sentiment cautious.

Fintech Affirm Holdings outperformed, closing up more than 11 percent after lifting its 2026 gross merchandise volume forecast to above $47.5 billion from a prior projection of above $46 billion, beating consensus expectations of $47.4 billion. The stronger GMV outlook suggested improving transaction flows on Affirm’s platform and signaled resilience in digital consumer credit demand, a positive sign for growth-oriented financial technology exposure.

Solventum posted a third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.50, ahead of the $1.43 consensus, sending its shares up more than 7 percent. Media heavyweight News Corp also topped expectations, with first-quarter revenue of $2.14 billion versus the $2.11 billion consensus, lifting its stock by more than 6 percent and providing a reminder that advertising and subscription revenue can still surprise to the upside in the right segments.

Those gains were offset by painful moves elsewhere. CNH Industrial plunged more than 6 percent after reporting Q3 adjusted EPS of 8 cents, below the 13-cent consensus, and cutting its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of 44 to 50 cents from a prior 50 to 70 cent outlook; the new guidance sits below a street consensus of 59 cents. The revision highlights persistent demand weakness in industrial equipment and the sensitivity of capital goods manufacturers to economic slowdowns.

Franklin Resources slid more than 4 percent after disclosing a Q4 operating margin of 3.6 percent, well under the 8.33 percent expected. The miss points to margin pressure in asset management from fee compression, flows volatility, and higher operating costs—a cautionary signal for financial stocks reliant on scale to protect profits.

The biotech sector suffered an acute shock after Intellia Therapeutics plunged more than 25 percent when a patient died following treatment with the company’s gene-editing therapy for a rare disease. Such safety setbacks amplify regulatory and clinical risk in high-beta biotech names and can materially recalibrate valuation assumptions for platform companies.

Consumer discretionary also felt a hit when Take-Two Interactive fell more than 8 percent, leading both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 losers, after the company delayed Grand Theft Auto VI by six months to November 2026. The postponement reverberates through expectations for near-term revenue recognition and highlighted the concentration risk that blockbuster titles pose for game developers.

Taken together, the session reflected a market balancing macro relief against idiosyncratic shocks. Reopening hopes reduced an overlay of policy uncertainty, encouraging risk-on positioning, but micro-level disappointments and safety issues kept volatility elevated. For investors, the day reinforced a broader, multi-year trend: markets are increasingly driven by a handful of large-cap, growth-oriented companies while earnings dispersion and event risk create sharp stock-specific moves. Policymakers’ ability to steady fiscal and regulatory conditions will remain central to whether the current relief translates into a sustained rally across the broader market.