Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

S&P 500 shakes off down day for tech heavyweights to finish higher

In a case of opposite day, the lesser-runs of the S&P 500 powered the market higher while the heavyweights broadly retreated on Thursday. The benchmark US stock index closed up 0.4%, the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% gain, and the Russell 2000 led the way with a 0.5% advance.

Contrary to Wednesday, the S&P 500’s advance-decline line was tilted decidedly to the upside, with gainers outnumbering fallers by 247. Every S&P 500 sector ETF traded higher save for consumer discretionary, with defensive sectors like utilities and consumer staples topping the leaderboard.

Cisco helped lead the day’s gains, jumping nearly 5% after the networking products company posted a Q3 solid earnings report, exceeding analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth shares tumbled 11% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Justice is investigating the healthcare giant for possible Medicare fraud, the latest in a series of stumbles for the company.

Walmart shares slipped as much as 3%, but ended the day flat as investors balanced the company’s solid Q1 earnings beat with the warning that price hikes are on the way.

Meta slumped to session lows late in the trading day after The Wall Street Journal reported that it’s delaying the release of its Llama 4 AI model.

Birkenstock shares climbed nearly 6% after the popular German footwear company beat earnings estimates for the second quarter and raised its full-year outlook.

Alibaba shares fell 7.5% after the Chinese e-commerce giant missed revenue and profit expectations for the fourth quarter amid ongoing consumer weakness in the country.

NetEase, one of China’s largest video game companies, rallied 14% after the company topped earnings estimates thanks to strong game sales and a 35% boost in net profit.

Meanwhile...

Foot Locker shares sprinted over 85% after Dick’s Sporting Goods announced a massive $2.4 billion takeover offer for the struggling sneaker retailer. Dick’s shares, however, fell nearly 15%.

Coinbase’s stock fell 7% after the crypto exchange said it would pay between $180 million and $400 million to customers following a data breach from an “unknown threat actor.”

Shares of CoreWeave surged as much as 11% before closing down 2%, despite posting better-than-expected sales during its inaugural quarterly earnings report.

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markets
Luke Kawa

POET Technologies tumbles after announcing $150 million direct share offering

POET Technologies is tumbling in early trading Thursday after the optical communications company announced that it’s raising $150 million through the sale of about 20.7 million shares in a registered direct offering.

It’s an opportunity for management to cash in on the stock’s more than 30% rally year to date (as of Wednesday’s close).

“With a substantial base of cash, we plan to accelerate our pursuit of targeted acquisitions, add to our capabilities and talent base, vertically integrate our products with differentiated components, and expand operations to pursue revenue opportunities across the board, in order to bring long-term value to shareholders,” Executive Chairman and CEO Dr. Suresh Venkatesan said.

POET’s last offering came in late October, after which shares nearly halved in less than a month amid a broad drawdown in speculative, volatile stocks beloved by retail traders.

markets
Luke Kawa

Oracle gains amid report that the TikTok deal is poised to close this week

Oracle is gaining in premarket trading as Semafor reports that China and the US have signed off on the sale of TikTok’s US operations to a consortium in which the software giant is one of the three leading investors.

The transaction is poised to close this week, per the report, citing people familiar with the situation.

In mid-December, Oracle booked a huge gain after the CEO of TikTok owner ByteDance indicated that he’d signed contracts with Oracle and the other major investors leading this consortium, private equity firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-backed tech investment company MGX.

If, as previous reporting suggested, the transaction values TikTok’s US operations at about $14 billion, that would mark a fairly low price tag for a lot of eyeballs and ad dollars. This pact will also afford Oracle’s cloud business an opportunity to deepen its preexisting relationship with TikTok.

markets
J. Edward Moreno

Abbott slumps after reporting sales miss, disappointing Q1 guidance

Abbott Laboratories fell in premarket trading after it reported fourth-quarter sales that missed Wall Street estimates and gave disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

The company said it expects to report first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of between $1.12 and $1.18, below the $1.20 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. For the full year, it expects to report adjusted earnings per share of $5.55 to $5.80, in line with the $5.67 the Street is penciling in.

Abbott also reported $11.5 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, less than the analyst consensus of $11.8 billion. The sales miss was driven by lower-than-expected sales of its medical devices, its largest segment. Its profits for the quarter hit $1.50 per share, right in line with expectations.

The stock fell more than 5% in premarket trading on Thursday.

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GE Aerospace Jet Engines

GE Aerospace posts better-than-expected Q4 results and surprisingly strong full-year profit guidance

GE Aerospace had a strong 2025, rising roughly 85% to outpace both the S&P 500 and industry benchmarks.

Matt Phillips3h
markets
Hyunsoo Rim

Goldman hikes year-end gold price forecast to $5,400 per ounce as private investors and central banks compete for the shiny stuff

Goldman Sachs has raised its December 2026 gold price forecast to $5,400 per ounce, up from the previous $4,900 target, citing strong demand from private sector investors using gold as a hedge against global policy risks, according to a note released late Tuesday.

The revised price target reflects a 17% increase from January’s month-to-date average price, with continued central bank buying as the biggest driver of the forecast (accounting for 14 percentage points of the expected appreciation), while ETF inflows add another 3 pp — supported by an assumed Fed rate cut this year.

Central banks have been on a gold-buying spree since 2022, after the freezing of Russia’s foreign reserves, helping push prices up 15% in 2023 and 26% in 2024. But Goldman analysts noted that the rally accelerated in 2025 as competition between central banks and private investors for the limited bullion intensified — driving prices up another 67% last year, with recent tensions over Greenland only adding to the momentum.

That private sector demand now extends well beyond ETF inflows. Goldman said buying is increasingly coming from a new class of investors seeking protection against macro policy risk and currency “debasement,” including purchases from high-net-worth families and call option buying — flows that are “hard to track” but have become a “significant incremental source of demand.”

Goldman assumed these macro-related “sticky” hedges will persist through 2026 — unlike those tied to the 2024 US election, which unwound quickly once the outcome was clear.

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