4:25pm: In the green
Stocks finished Thursday’s session higher as the US government inked a new deal with Taiwan that could boost domestic chipmakers. The Dow Jones added 0.6% at 49,442 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained 0.3%, at 6,944 points and 23,530 points, respectively.
3:45pm: Proactive news headlines
- TNR Gold Corp (TSX-V:TNR, FRA:TNW, OTC:TRRXF) has announced the appointment of Leopold Sutton to its board of directors.
- 1911 Gold Corp (TSX-V:AUMB, OTCQB:AUMBF, FRA:2KY) has outlined progress made in 2025 and its plans for 2026 as it advances toward a potential restart of its 100%-owned True North gold mine in southeastern Manitoba.
- 1911 Gold Corp (TSX-V:AUMB, OTCQB:AUMBF, FRA:2KY) has outlined progress made in 2025 and its plans for 2026 as it advances toward a potential restart of its 100%-owned True North gold mine in southeastern Manitoba.
2:30pm: Market movers
- Chip stocks climbed today following strong quarterly results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ADR) (NYSE:TSM). KLA Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC, XETRA:KLA) surged 8.9%, Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT, XETRA:AP2) was up 8%, ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML, XETRA:ASME) added 6.2%, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX, XETRA:LAR) added 5.8, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, XETRA:AMD) gained 5.6%.
- Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX, XETRA:BSX) announced a definitive agreement to acquire medical device company Penumbra (NYSE:PEN) in a cash and stock transaction valuing Penumbra at $374 per share, or approximately $14.5 billion in enterprise value.
- BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) reported fourth quarter 2025 earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations and ended the year with a record $14 trillion in assets under management, sending its shares up almost 5% on Thursday morning.
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS, XETRA:GOS) on Thursday reported fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, sending its shares almost 4% higher.
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares rose 4% after the firm delivered strong fourth quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations on both revenue and earnings per share (EPS).
1:32pm: Critical minerals stockpile proposed
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to establish a $2.5 billion Strategic Resilience Reserve aimed at securing critical minerals, including lithium, nickel, and rare earths.
The bill seeks to stabilize domestic supply, counter perceived market manipulation by China, and encourage US and allied production.
The 68-page proposal outlines the creation of a seven-member board, modeled after the Federal Reserve, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The board would oversee the purchase and stockpiling of minerals deemed critical by federal agencies, prioritizing recycled materials while also including mine-extracted resources. Revenue from sales to private industry or defense agencies would be reinvested to sustain the reserve.
Lawmakers said the reserve is intended to insulate the US from foreign supply disruptions and establish a Western pricing mechanism independent of China, which currently dominates global production of many critical minerals.
12:30pm: ‘Treacherous’ path ahead for silver
Silver remained in record territory on Thursday, topping $91.50 an ounce but one analyst has warned the path higher to $100 an ounce could be “treacherous.”
XTB research director Kathleen Brooks believes gold could catch up with the white meal, following a recent surge then selloff in silver.
“The silver price has become prone to large upward and downward price swings, and on a long-term basis the silver/ gold ratio could drop further,” Brooks wrote.
“Although the ratio is at low levels historically, this suggests that the top for silver could be in sight, and the road to $100 an ounce may be treacherous.”
11:15am: Tech leads the way
Technology stocks led Wall Street higher as oil prices retreated amid geopolitical de-escalation.
“Today has seen US small caps hit a new record high even as tech stocks recover following TSMC’s numbers, while the FTSE 100’s progress above 10,000 continues uninterrupted,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said in a statement.
“2026 has started on a resoundingly bullish note, and with today’s US jobless claims dropping below 200,000 there is renewed hope that the US is entering a goldilocks scenario for the economy.
Beauchamp added: “A fresh drop for the Vix suggests that the benign scenario for equities will remain in place for the time being.”
10am: Stocks bounce
US stocks have opened higher, with tech giants leading the rebound after they were the worst hit in the previous day's sell-off.
Nvidia rose over 3%, Broadcom around 2%, while AMD and Micron have both jumped nearer 4%.
The Nasdaq climbed 0.7 in opening trades, with the S&P 500 rising 0.5% and the Dow Jones 0.4%.
Top risers in the S&P and Nasdaq 100 indices were all from the wider semiconductor sector: Applied Materials up over 9%, KLA-Tencor 8.5%, followed by Qnity Electronics, Lam Research and ASML.
Biggest weights for the S&P include oil and gas group APA, Occidental Petroleum and Devon Energy.
Boston Scientific fell over 4% after announcing it had agreed to acquire cardiovascular diseases specialist Penumbra in a $14.5 billion deal.
8am: Nasdaq expected to lead rebound
Wall Street futures were increasingly positive ahead of Thursday's opening bell, with investors betting on a rebound from the falls seen the previous session.
The tech-powered Nasdaq was predicted to open up 0.8%, with the S&P 500 called 0.3% higher and Dow Jones futures just a tad higher than flat.
A day earlier, the Nasdaq fell 1% as the Mag 7 group of tech titans dropped 1.6%, also sending the S&P down 0.5%, with the Dow losing 42 points but recovering from a 340-point deficit in late morning.
On the upside, the Russell 2000 bucked the trend and rose 0.7%, and the Equal Weight S&P rose 0.4%.
Analysts said the US earnings season has gone well this week, with big banks in the usual role as front-runners.
Today, earnings are due from lenders Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, as well as BlackRock, following numbers from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi and JP Morgan in preceding days.
It's been a seven-from-seven record for earnings beats from big names so far, said market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth in Florida, adding that economic data also "crushed it" as mortgage applications surged, retail sales were better than expected and existing home sales blew straight through estimates.
Tech stocks led a retreat, however, after reports said that Chinese customs authorities had blocked Nvidia chips from entering the country, President Trump announced a 25% tariff on certain US semiconductor imports and November PPI inflation came in higher than expected, with Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic also making it clear that the Fed is in no rush to cut rates due to elevated price pressures.
Fed funds futures are currently pricing in just a 5% chance of a rate cut on January 28, Polcari said, with a 23% chance for the March 18 decision, an 18% chance for April, and a 50% chance in June.
"So, the rotation out of ‘richly’ priced tech into a more appropriately valued, economically sensitive names sent the Nasdaq, the Mag 7, Semi’s, Cyber, etc into a tailspin, marking the worst decline in a month," says Polcari.
Oil prices also turned lower after reaching a three-month high earlier in the week.
Analyst Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said this was largely down to Donald Trump cooling calls for near-term military action in Iran, with the US president saying he was reassured by information that the regime would stop killing people involved in the recent protests.
"While many will look at this as another opportunity for the US to open up a maligned nation to higher oil exports, the fact is that Iran already produces much more that Venezuela and that output is at risk if the government falls," said Mahony.
"Concerns around the potential disruption to the flow of oil through the straits of Hormuz, coupled with the potential impact on Iranian output in the event of a military conflict means that the recent bearish oil thesis has been turned on its head this week.
“Financial markets took those comments to mean there was less of a chance the US takes military action against Iran, and therefore a lower risk of disruption to oil supplies."