Market Update

The S&P 500 Index is up by 0.17% today, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has shown a stronger gain of 0.64%. The Nasdaq 100 Index has also climbed, increasing by 0.47%. In futures trading, the March E-mini S&P futures have risen by 0.20%, and March E-mini Nasdaq futures are up by 0.50%.

After a significant downturn on Monday, stock indexes are recovering today. Software stocks, in particular, have bounced back from a sell-off earlier in the week, contributing to the positive sentiment in the market. Concerns about U.S. trade policies and the implications of artificial intelligence had driven stocks down previously, following a report from Citorini Research on AI risks.

In a notable shift, President Trump’s new 10% global tariffs were implemented today, after the Supreme Court invalidated his “reciprocal” tariffs last Friday. Trump has hinted at the possibility of increasing tariffs to 15%, though the timeline for any such adjustments remains uncertain. The tariffs are applied under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the implementation of such measures without Congressional approval for a limited time.

Geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on the markets, particularly with the upcoming nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. Iran’s Foreign Minister has suggested a “good chance” for a diplomatic resolution, but uncertainty lingers. Last Friday, Trump mentioned considering limited military action to expedite negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

The US S&P20 Composite Home Price Index reported a month-on-month increase of 0.47% and a year-on-year rise of 1.38%, surpassing expectations.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby expressed a cautious optimism regarding potential rate cuts this year—this, he noted, relies on significant progress in controlling inflation to reach the 2% target.

This week’s market agenda includes significant corporate earnings reports and economic indicators. An increase of 2.5 points in February’s consumer confidence index is expected later today. Additionally, President Trump is set to deliver the State of the Union address tonight. On Wednesday, Nvidia’s financial results will be released after the markets close. New weekly jobless claims might rise by about 10,000 to reach 216,000 by Thursday. The MNI Chicago PMI for February may show a decrease of 1.8 points to 52.2 by Friday.

As the fourth-quarter earnings season wraps up, over 80% of S&P 500 companies have reported their earnings, with positive results noted. Around 74% of those firms exceeded expectations, leading to a projected 8.4% growth in quarterly earnings, marking ten consecutive quarters of annual gains. Notably, large tech firms, excluding the so-called Magnificent Seven, are expected to show a more modest growth of 4.6%.

Current market predictions indicate only a 3% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the upcoming policy meeting scheduled for March 17-18.

International stock markets are also seeing gains today. The Euro Stoxx50 has edged up by 0.01%, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed up by 0.87%. Similarly, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended with a 0.87% increase.

The March 10th T Note has slipped by 4 ticks today, with the 10-year T-note yield increasing to 4.040%. The slight dip in T-Notes can be attributed to the recovery in stock prices as well as upcoming supply pressures from the Treasury, which is set to auction $211 billion in T-notes and floating-rate notes this week, starting with a $69 billion auction of two-year T-notes today.

European bond yields are trending downward, with German 10-year federal bonds falling to 2.696%, their lowest level in over two months. The UK’s 10-year bond yield has similarly decreased to 4.291%, the lowest in more than a year.

In the euro area, new car registrations saw a notable dip of 3.9% year-on-year in January, reaching 800,000 units, representing the first significant decline in several months.

Market expectations are indicating a slight 2 percentage points higher chance of the ECB cutting rates by 25 basis points in its next meeting on March 19th.

Software stocks, after facing a downturn earlier, are making a comeback today. Companies like Salesforce, Service Now, Atlassian, and Adobe have risen by more than 4%. Other notable gainers include Intuit, up over 3%, and Datadog, Oracle, and Autodesk, which have seen increases of more than 2%.

Pulvera Therapeutics soared by more than 30% following positive news about its late-stage trial for a treatment aimed at lymphatic malformations.

Keysight Technologies is one of the top gainers today, reporting first-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.17, surpassing the consensus of $1.99, and projecting second-quarter adjusted EPS between $2.27 and $2.33.

Henry Schein’s fourth-quarter net sales reached $3.44 billion, exceeding expectations of $3.35 billion with an increase of over 7%.

Advanced Micro Devices gained over 6% after Meta Platforms announced a partnership to utilize AMD processors for data center equipment.

Home Depot’s shares are up more than 3% following a surprise 0.4% increase in fourth-quarter comparable sales, exceeding the anticipated decline.

BWX Technologies is also up more than 3%, thanks to fourth-quarter sales of $885.8 million, topping analyst predictions.

Qualcomm shares have increased by over 2% after receiving an upgrade from Loop Capital Markets, which raised its rating from Hold to Buy.

Genuine Parts Company saw over a 2% increase following an upgrade from Raymond James from Market Perform to Strong Buy.

On the downturn, Ziff Davis shares fell more than 14% after its fourth-quarter adjusted EPS missed estimates.

Paymentas Holdings dropped over 3%, despite projecting future revenue that still fell short of expectations.

Whirlpool’s shares declined more than 8% after announcing a public offering of common stock, while Hims & Hers Health dropped over 7% despite forecasting first-quarter revenue that was below predictions.

Planet Fitness saw a similar decline of more than 7%, projecting 2026 adjusted EBITDA below consensus.

Cable One shares are down over 7% following a downgrade from BNP Paribas.

Expeditors International reported a drop of more than 4%, as its fourth-quarter operating profit fell short of expectations.

Oneok’s shares fell more than 4% after reporting fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA that missed estimates.

Despite forecasts indicating annual sales below expectations, Option Care Health’s shares still saw a decline of over 3%.

American Tower Corp, Axon Enterprise Inc, Constellation Energy Corp, and several others are slated for financial reports in the coming days.