Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trade features an upside bias as the market continues to deal with incoming headlines about tariffs and implications for inflation and earnings growth. The positive sentiment is driven by news that Canada has also been given a reprieve from tariff actions for at least 30 days and that China has announced retaliatory efforts deemed to be more postural than penal.

The market also seemed hopeful about early reports that President Trump and China's President Xi would be speaking today, which subsequent reports indicated is not true. Major indices pulled back from session highs in response.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which briefly dipped below its prior close, sports a 0.2% gain, the S&P 500 trades 0.6% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite shows a 1.0% gain. 

Outsized gains in some mega caps have bolstered index-level performance. Alphabet (GOOG 206.74, +4.08, +2.0%) is a standout in that respect, reaching a fresh 52-week high in front of its earnings report this afternoon.

Some other stocks making outsized moves reported earnings. Palantir Technologies (PLTR 101.32, +17.60, +21.0%) and Spotify (SPOT 6008.93, +59.71, +10.9%) are some of the top performers today after reporting earnings.

Dow component Merck (MRK 89.35, -10.44, -10.5%) is among the worst performers after reporting earnings, along with Estee Lauder (EL 69.75, -13.02, -15.7%) and PepsiCo (PEP 143.94, -6.33, -4.2%). 

Elsewhere, the 10-yr yield is at 4.52%.

Reviewing today's economic data:

• December Factory Orders -0.9% (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%); Prior was revised to -0.8% from -0.4%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness in factory orders was concentrated in the volatile transportation equipment space; otherwise, there was a modest pickup in order activity.
• December JOLTS - Job Openings 7.600 mln; Prior was revised to 8.156 mln from 8.098 mln