Tech leads stocks higher as Nvidia surges to record high

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) climbed more than 3% as the stock closed at a record high of $149.43 on Monday after a record revenue and a strong sales forecast from server partner Foxconn (2317.TW, HNHPF) sparked a rally.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to speak at the Consumer Electronics Show later on Monday night, where investors will be listening for any further clues on demand for Nvidia’s AI chips.

The stock is now up more than 9% in the past five days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned as Liberal Party leader on Monday, setting the country up for a new prime minister by late March and potentially resetting its trade relationship with the US during the second Trump administration.

“A new government could be good for [the Canadian dollar], and Trudeau is speeding up the process,” wrote Kyle Chapman, FX markets analyst at Ballinger Group, in an email on Monday.

Chapman argued the election of a conservative prime minister, like Pierre Poilievre, would be more aligned with President-elect Donald Trump’s “hallmarks,” such as “a dislike of deficit spending and a desire for deregulation and tax cuts.” Poilievre has also expressed a strong preference for a hawkish monetary policy and a strong Canadian dollar.

Read more here.

One of the key themes of the past month of market action, and on Monday alone, has been Big Tech stocks keeping the market afloat while other stocks have stumbled.

A similar trend of megacap tech outperformance has played out in earnings revisions too. DataTrek co-founder Jessica Rabe pointed out in a note to clients on Monday morning that over the past 90 days, the combination 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 an average of 5.1%.

Conversely, in the same time frame the S&P 500 has seen earnings revised down by 2.7% while the 10 largest non-tech stocks have seen earnings revised down by 2.8%.

“Analysts’ fundamental confidence in these names is a good sign, given that they represent over a third of the S&P and therefore 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 risk of a dispute over the position could 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 during the Barack Obama era, although 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 as the Fed’s vice chair of supervision before his term was up even if Trump tried to fire him, saying, “I intend to serve my fixed term of office.” Barr’s term as vice chair for supervision was scheduled to end in July 2026.

Barr backed off from that potential fight Monday in a surprise move. However, he said that he would remain on the Fed board of governors, a separate term that doesn’t 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 if Trump tried to fire or demote him.

Barr’s departure comes as the people in Trump’s orbit are floating some dramatic ideas that would remake the way US banks are regulated during the next Trump administration, from deleting the CFPB to abolishing the FDIC.

There are lots of questions about whether any of the ideas, some of which would require acts of Congress, will come to pass.

Read more here.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock extended 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 set to deliver a keynote address at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas at 6:20 p.m. PST on Monday. The address will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other sites.

Investors are anticipating more updates on the rollout of the company’s Blackwell chips, which analysts say will drive a massive new 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 be less broad than initially thought.

Trump quickly responded on Truth Social, saying the report was “wrong.” The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which had been down as much as 1%, pared some losses and was off about 0.5% at last check. Both the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) stock indexes were up more 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 many of the key companies driving the lion’s share of S&P 500 earnings growth.

This, combined with the recent rise in the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) to 4.6%, could 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 be a year of two halves, with the first 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 new leader,” Trudeau said in a scheduled appearance in Ottawa.

Pressure has mounted in recent weeks as the country’s party leaders debate 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 the best path forward for Canada. She added the country can “ill afford” Trump’s tariff threats.

The two countries are each other’s biggest trading parters, and Trump has vowed to increase import tariffs on Canadian goods by 25%.

Given Trudeau’s resignation timeline, he will continue to serve as prime minister during the first few month’s of Trump’s presidency and will manage tariff talks during that time.

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 more 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 close to 2%. Nvidia (NVDA) was up nearly 5% mid-morning, while AMD (AMD) climbed more than 2%.

Foxconn assembles Apple’s iPhones and data center servers for hyperscalers such as Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) using the world’s most advanced chips such as Nvidia’s. Foxconn on Sunday reported December sales of NT$654.8 billion ($20 billion), a 40% increase from the prior year and 7% 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 because it manufactures products that need those chips to function.

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

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

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

In conjunction with 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 combination of the two businesses will create one of the largest digital pay-TV providers in the US as consumers search for cable alternatives amid increased cord-cutting.

Fubo, which offers people access to live TV channels over the internet, has primarily focused on sports and news. Hulu + Live TV, categorized as a cable replacement option — similar to 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 expected to “become immediately cash 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 reach more than $101,000 per token.

This marked the first 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 question is whether the gains will be sustained once Huang has spoken.

Bank of America semiconductor sector analyst Vivek Arya seems to think the keynote will 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 very bullish price target of $190 per share.

Stocks continued to build a strong start to the new year 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 more than 2% and Micron (MU) shooting higher by more than 9%. The chip names rallied after a record revenue and a strong sales forecast from Nvidia (NVDA) server partner Foxconn (2317.TW, HNHPF), which boosted optimism for AI-fueled growth.

The first full week of trading in 2025 was set to begin with US stocks higher after a report from the Washington Post suggested a softening in Trump’s tariff plans could 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 rather than apply tariffs to all imports, the current discussions center on imposing them only on certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security…”

After his election win in the fall, Trump pledged to impose a blanket tariff of up to 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, in part, attributable to the uncertainty of these 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 interest rate hiking cycle and a market sell-off in 2018 — was “a good starting point” for thinking 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.