Markets
Yiwen Lu

Stocks soar after the Fed green-lights an easing cycle

Major indexes rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell said that it was time for a rate cut. Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 gained 1.2%. Small caps took the lead in the market boom, with the Russell 2000 up 3.2%. 

The US Dollar index was down 0.8% to 100.7, hitting the lowest point since July 2023. 

The 10-year Treasury yield fell 6.5 basis points to 3.8%, slightly up from earlier in the day at 3.79%, which was close to the bond yield's 2024 low. The policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield was down 10 basis points to 3.91%. 

All S&P 500 sector ETFs rallied. Real estate was the best-performing sector, up 2%, followed by consumer discretionary, buoyed by Carnival’s 7.5% advance and Norwegian Cruise Line 7.8% gain.

Big tech stocks also climbed after Thursday's sell-off. In particular, Tesla jumped 4.6% and Nvidia surged 4.5%.

Intuit was the worst S&P 500 performer. Shares closed with a 6.8% loss, as the owner of Turbo Tax reported earnings that beat estimates but issued poor guidance.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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