MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks ended higher following Wednesday's results from a number of tech bellwethers. Treasury yields and the dollar declined following the Fed's decision to pause rate cuts, as investors price rates unchanged through at least June. Oil futures posted modest gains heading toward a weekend in which eyes will be on the possibility of the U.S. hitting Mexico and Canada with trade tariffs and the OPEC+ reaction to President Trump's bid to lower prices. Gold prices reached new highs amid weakness in the dollar.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

Major indexes pared afternoon gains after President Donald Trump's latest round of tariff threats against Mexico and Canada.

Stocks retreated from session highs when Trump reiterated that 25% tariffs on imports from both countries were coming this weekend.

The Dow industrials rose 0.4%, while the S&P 500 added 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher.

Earlier Thursday, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added nearly 0.3%, supported by conglomerates and technology stocks.

Stocks in Australia rose, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index gained 0.6%, the second consecutive day of increases.

New Zealand's NZX-50 shed 0.6%, resuming its recent slide amid weakness in infrastructure and logistics stocks.

Markets in China were closed for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures finished higher, a day after the U.S. benchmark saw its lowest settlement of the new year, as traders continued to weigh the possibility that President Trump will implement tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which are among the biggest sources for U.S. oil imports.

Traders also looked ahead to an upcoming meeting of ministers from OPEC+ - made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies - and their possible response to President Trump's recent call for increased production.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery edged up nearly 0.2%, settling at $72.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March Brent crude rose 0.4%, ending at $76.87 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Trump's call for OPEC+ to reduce the cost of oil put some downward pressure on prices in the past week, wrote James Swanston, Middle East and North Africa economist at Capital Economics, in a note.

However, OPEC+ is "unlikely to change its existing plans for oil output, " which is to stay at the current level until March, he said.

Gold futures set a fresh record on safe-haven demand, a weaker U.S. dollar and lower Treasury yields.

The April gold contract, the most-active futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled up 2.7% at $2,845.20 a troy ounce.

The latest rally in gold prices likely reflects a combination of rising uncertainty about U.S. policies and a weaker dollar following the disappointing fourth quarter GDP report, Sprott Managing Partner Ryan McIntyre said.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

U.S. GDP Grew 2.5% in 2024, but Slowed Slightly in Final Quarter

The U.S. economy grew last year at a solid clip, boosted by American consumers who just kept spending.

U.S. gross domestic product-the value of all goods and services produced across the economy-grew 2.5% last year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That was slower than 3.2% in 2023 but still a sturdy pace.

Economic issues loomed large in 2024, when data largely showed a strong economy but many everyday Americans disagreed. Voters, angry about high prices, booted Democrats out of the White House. But inflation cooled, and the job market remained strong.

ECB Cuts Rates With Economy at a Standstill

The European Central Bank lowered interest rates by a quarter point and signaled more rate cuts to come, aiming to bolster a stagnant eurozone economy that is highly exposed to the trade tariffs threatened by President Trump.

The ECB reduced its key interest rate to 2.75% from 3% Thursday, widening a gap in benchmark borrowing costs with the Federal Reserve. It was the fifth cut in six meetings and came hours after the Fed held its policy rate steady at 4.25% to 4.5%.

Apple iPhone Sales Shrink Slightly as Investors Await AI Payoff

Apple's iPhone sales fell in the all-important December quarter, a sign that its artificial-intelligence software has yet to kick off a new cycle of growth for its most valuable product.

On Thursday, Apple reported that iPhone sales for the quarter were down nearly 1% from the prior year to $69.1 billion, a miss from the $70.7 billion analysts were projecting, according to FactSet.

Apple's total revenue was $124.3 billion, rising almost 4% from the same quarter last year. Net income was $36.3 billion, up more than 7% from the prior year. Analysts, on average, had projected revenue of $124.3 billion and a net income of $35.6 billion.

Intel Stock Is Volatile After Earnings. There's No Update on a New CEO.

Intel stock was wavering Thursday after the chip maker gave a softer-than-expected revenue forecast for the March quarter. Meanwhile, Intel's interim co-CEOs told Barron's there was no update around timing for the completion of the company's permanent CEO search.

For the fourth quarter, Intel reported adjusted earnings of 13 cents a share, slightly above Wall Street's consensus estimate for 12 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue came in at $14.3 billion, which was above analysts' expectations of $13.8 billion.

Guidance was disappointing, though. Intel provided a revenue forecast range of $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion for the current quarter, versus the consensus call of $12.9 billion. The company projects adjusted EPS of zero cents for the March quarter, compared with the nine-cent estimate.

Visa Profit Climbs 5% as Consumer Spending Holds Up

Visa on Thursday reported $5.1 billion of profits for the final three months of 2024, up 5% from the year prior, as consumer spending remains solid even as some inflation persists.

Visa's per-share earnings for its fiscal first quarter amounted to $2.58. Revenue rose 10% from a year ago to $9.5 billion. Wall Street analysts had forecast $5.25 billion of net income, or $2.64 of per-share earnings, on revenue of $9.34 billion.

Payments volume-purchases made on Visa-branded cards across networks-rose 9% from a year ago. Ryan McInerney, the chief executive of Visa, said in a statement that earnings "reflected healthy spending during the holiday season and improving trends in payments volume, cross-border volume, and processed transactions growth."

OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round Valuing It Up to $340 Billion

OpenAI is in early talks to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker at $340 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank would lead the round and is in discussions to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion. The remaining amount would come from other investors.

The Japanese company is helping assemble investors for the rest of the round, one of the people said. The discussions are still in flux and could fall apart, the person said.

Expected Major Events for Friday

00:30/AUS: Dec Financial Aggregates, incl Private Sector Credit

00:30/AUS: 4Q PPI

01:00/JPN: Dec Steel Imports & Exports Statistics

02:00/SIN: Dec Money Supply

02:00/SIN: Dec Bank Loans

04:30/JPN: Dec Preliminary Report on Petroleum Statistics

05:00/JPN: Dec Housing Starts

05:00/JPN: Dec Construction Orders

05:30/AUS: Dec International Reserves & Foreign Currency Liquidity

07:00/THA: Dec Industrial Production Index

07:00/MAL: Dec Money Supply

07:30/THA: Weekly International Reserves

09:59/HK: Dec Tourism figures

10:59/INA: 4Q Quarterly Investment Data - Foreign and Domestic Investment Realization Results

00:00/SKA: Jan Trade data

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2025 16:53 ET (21:53 GMT)

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