Certainly one of the important thing themes of the past month of market motion, and on Monday alone, has been Big Tech stocks keeping the market afloat while other stocks have stumbled.

The same trend of megacap tech outperformance has played out in earnings revisions too. DataTrek co-founder Jessica Rabe identified in a note to clients on Monday morning that over the past 90 days, the mixture of Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Meta (META), Broadcom (AVGO), and Tesla (TSLA) have seen earnings revised up by a mean of 5.1%.

Conversely, in the identical time-frame the S&P 500 has seen earnings revised down by 2.7% while the ten largest non-tech stocks have seen earnings revised down by 2.8%.

“Analysts’ fundamental confidence in these names is a superb sign, on condition that they represent over a 3rd of the S&P and due to this fact have an outsized impact on the index,” Rabe wrote. “We remain positive on US Big Tech given their superior earnings momentum.”

Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:

The Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator Michael Barr will step down from his position in February, saying that “the chance of a dispute over the position could possibly be a distraction from our mission.”

Fed watchers expected President-elect Donald Trump to demote Barr, who was a Joe Biden appointee and a Treasury official in the course of the Barack Obama era, even though it was not clear that Trump would have had the legal power to make such a move once he took office.

Barr himself said in November he wouldn’t leave because the Fed’s vice chair of supervision before his term was up even when Trump tried to fireside him, saying, “I intend to serve my fixed term of office.” Barr’s term as vice chair for supervision was scheduled to finish in July 2026.

Barr backed off from that potential fight Monday in a surprise move. Nonetheless, he said that he would remain on the Fed board of governors, a separate term that does not end until 2032.

Barr’s boss, Jerome Powell, has reinforced his intention to serve out his term as chair through May 2026, telling reporters he didn’t intend to go anywhere even when Trump tried to fireside or demote him.

Barr’s departure comes because the people in Trump’s orbit are floating some dramatic ideas that will remake the best way US banks are regulated in the course of the next Trump administration, from deleting the CFPB to abolishing the FDIC.

There are numerous questions on whether any of the ideas, a few of which might require acts of Congress, will come to pass.

Read more here.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock prolonged last week’s gains, with shares set to surpass their previous all-time closing high.

The stock climbed nearly 5% to trade at around $151. The chip maker reached its previous record close of $148.88 a share on Nov. 7.

The positive swings come as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ready to deliver a keynote address on the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas at 6:20 p.m. PST on Monday. The address shall be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other sites.

Investors are anticipating more updates on the rollout of the corporate’s Blackwell chips, which analysts say will drive a large recent cycle of demand despite fears over an AI spending slowdown.

Read more here.

The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB) moved lower, coming off its recent two-year high on Monday after the Washington Post reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans could possibly be less broad than initially thought.

Trump quickly responded on Truth Social, saying the report was “mistaken.” The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which had been down as much as 1%, pared some losses and was off about 0.5% finally check. Each the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) stock indexes were up greater than 1%.

In a note to clients late Sunday, Morgan Stanley chief investment officer Mike Wilson wrote that the dollar index has risen to a level that “has the potential to weigh on equities with more significant foreign sales exposure.” As noted last week, that group includes lots of the key firms driving the lion’s share of S&P 500 earnings growth.

This, combined with the recent rise within the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) to 4.6%, could possibly be a headwind for the broadening of the stock market rally beyond just large-cap tech stocks, per Wilson.

Should the rise in rates and the dollar persist, Wilson argues that “2025 could possibly be a yr of two halves, with the primary half being more challenged before potential equity-market-friendly policy changes (tax cut extensions/expansions, government efficiency reduces the term premium, etc.) can have their desired effects.”

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart on Monday after Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau formally announced his resignation.

“I intend to resign as party leader and as prime minister after the party selects a recent leader,” Trudeau said in a scheduled appearance in Ottawa.

Pressure has mounted in recent weeks because the country’s party leaders debate tips on how to best handle US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariff threat on Canada. Trudeau’s Liberal Party has also lagged behind the opposition Conservative Party in opinion polls.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from her position, citing internal struggles between herself and Trudeau on one of the best path forward for Canada. She added the country can “sick afford” Trump’s tariff threats.

The 2 countries are one another’s biggest trading parters, and Trump has vowed to extend import tariffs on Canadian goods by 25%.

Given Trudeau’s resignation timeline, he’ll proceed to function prime minister in the course of the first few month’s of Trump’s presidency and can manage tariff talks during that point.

Chip stocks rose across the board Monday after Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn reported December sales ahead of analyst expectations.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index (^SOX) rose greater than 3%, ahead of the Nasdaq’s (^IXIC) near 2% gain and the S&P 500’s (^GSPC) roughly 1% climb.

Memory chipmaker Micron (MU) jumped 11%, while Broadcom (AVGO) rose almost 3% and Qualcomm (QCOM) ticked up near 2%. Nvidia (NVDA) was up nearly 5% mid-morning, while AMD (AMD) climbed greater than 2%.

Foxconn assembles Apple’s iPhones and data center servers for hyperscalers corresponding to Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) using the world’s most advanced chips corresponding to Nvidia’s. Foxconn on Sunday reported December sales of NT$654.8 billion ($20 billion), a 40% increase from the prior yr and seven% higher than consensus estimates, Citi analyst Carrie Liu told investors in a note.

Foxconn’s performance is seen as an indicator for the chip sector since it manufactures products that need those chips to operate.

Nvidia stock was also boosted by investors waiting for CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address on the CES trade show in Las Vegas. Read more on that here.

Disney (DIS) will mix its Hulu + Live TV business with sports streamer FuboTV (FUBO) in the primary major media-dealmaking move of 2025.

Disney will control 70% of Fubo, according to an announcement. Shareholders of the sports streamer will own the remaining 30% of the combined business, which can operate under the Fubo publicly traded company name.

At the side of the transaction, Fubo settled all litigation with Disney, Fox (FOX), and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) related to Venu Sports, the planned sports streaming platform previously announced by the trio.

Shares of Fubo surged over 100% in early trading Monday on the heels of the announcement. Disney, Fox, and WBD shares were all up about 1%.

The mix of the 2 businesses will create considered one of the biggest digital pay-TV providers within the US as consumers seek for cable alternatives amid increased cord-cutting.

Fubo, which offers people access to live TV channels over the web, has primarily focused on sports and news. Hulu + Live TV, categorized as a cable substitute option — much like YouTube TV — allows audiences to stream from about 100 live TV channels across sports, news, and entertainment.

On an investor call, Fubo said the combined company is predicted to “turn into immediately money flow positive,” with over 6.2 million subscribers in North America and over $6 billion in revenue.

Read more here.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) joined the widespread market rally on Monday, quickly gaining steam in morning trade to achieve greater than $101,000 per token.

This marked the primary time the leading cryptocurrency has topped $100,000 since Dec. 19.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares have been pushing higher into CEO Jensen Huang’s CES keynote speech around 9:30 p.m. ET today.

The query is whether or not the gains shall be sustained once Huang has spoken.

Bank of America semiconductor sector analyst Vivek Arya seems to think the keynote shall be a springboard for further Nvidia gains.

Here’s what Arya said in a note this AM:

Arya reiterated a Buy” rating on Nvidia’s stock with a really bullish price goal of $190 per share.

Stocks continued to construct a powerful begin to the brand new yr on Monday morning.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.8%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the gains, popping 1.2%, after a tech-led rally on Friday.

Tech led the charge in early trading, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) rising greater than 2% and Micron (MU) shooting higher by greater than 9%. The chip names rallied after a record revenue and a powerful sales forecast from Nvidia (NVDA) server partner Foxconn (2317.TW, HNHPF), which boosted optimism for AI-fueled growth.

The primary full week of trading in 2025 was set to start with US stocks higher after a report from the Washington Post suggested a softening in Trump’s tariff plans could possibly be coming as his administration takes power this month.

As The Post’s Jeff Stein reports: “[Trump’s] aides are still discussing plans to impose import duties on goods from every country, the people said. But relatively than apply tariffs to all imports, the present discussions center on imposing them only on certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security…”

After his election win in the autumn, Trump pledged to impose a blanket tariff of as much as 20% on all imports — from all trading partners — with even stiffer levies targeted at some countries, like Mexico, Canada, and China.

The stock market’s shaky finish to 2024 was, partly, attributable to the uncertainty of those policies and Trump’s broader economic agenda heading into 2025.

Last month, the Fed revised its outlook for rate cuts in 2025, with Chair Jay Powell saying during a press conference that the impact of Trump’s tariffs during his first administration — which prompted a more aggressive rate of interest mountain climbing cycle and a market sell-off in 2018 — was “a superb place to begin” for enthusiastic about Trump 2.0.

Ahead of Monday’s open, futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up about 1% while S&P 500 futures rose 0.8%. Dow futures were up closer to 0.4%.

The dollar index, which has traded to two-year highs since Trump’s election win, was off about 1% early Monday.