TSLA
Tesla
-- 412.380 NVDA
NVIDIA
-- 147.220 PLTR
Palantir
-- 78.980 AAPL
Apple
-- 223.660 TEM
Tempus AI
-- 54.840 
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed as investors lacked a clear trading direction amid complex economic data and policy uncertainty.
Reports indicate that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal grounds for imposing high, widespread tariffs on other countries.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December monetary policy meeting show that almost all policymakers believe the inflation outlook poses an increasing risk. Officials noted that if inflation remains high, the Fed may keep interest rates unchanged or reduce monetary easing at a slower pace.
Charlie Ripley, Senior Investment Strategist at Allianz Investment Management, stated, “Inflation is a key and unpredictable economic variable for 2025, with many factors that could pose risks and drive inflation back up.”
On the same day, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.691%, and the 30-year yield reached 4.931%, the highest level since November 1, 2023.
The sharp rise in bond yields could have an unsettling effect on the stock market. On one hand, it increases borrowing costs for the entire economy; on the other, as the risk-free yields on government bonds rise, higher-risk assets such as stocks may come under pressure.
As Trump is set to take office later this month, concerns over the U.S. imposing additional tariffs on trade partners have kept investors on edge.
Thomas Hayes, Chairman of Great Hill Capital LLC, remarked, “If broader tariffs are implemented, they could have a short-term impact on inflation. The Federal Reserve will closely monitor Trump’s policy actions, and government spending cuts could partially alleviate the inflationary pressures caused by tariffs.”
In honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, U.S. stock markets will be closed for one day tomorrow, and the bond market will close early at 2 p.m. EST.
Market Dynamics
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 106.84 points, or 0.25%, to 42,635.20; the Nasdaq dropped by 10.80 points, or 0.06%, to 19,478.88; and the S&P 500 gained 9.21 points, or 0.16%, to 5,918.24.
Sector-specific ETFs in the U.S. showed mixed results, with the healthcare sector ETF rising by 0.52%, the internet stocks index ETF increasing by over 0.4%, the financial and consumer discretionary ETFs gaining around 0.3%, while the global tech stocks index ETF declined by nearly 0.1%, and the semiconductor ETF dropped by 0.71%.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed gains. The consumer staples sector rose by 0.46%, the financial sector by 0.31%, the healthcare sector by 0.53%, the information technology sector by 0.09%, and the communication services sector fell by 0.75%.
Performance of Popular Stocks
Large tech stocks showed mixed performance. Meta declined by 1.16%, Alphabet A dropped by 0.79%, Nvidia fell by 0.02%, Amazon closed up by 0.01%, Tesla rose by 0.15%, Apple gained 0.2%, and Microsoft increased by 0.52%.
eBay rose by about 10% after Meta announced it would display listings of products from its competitor eBay on Facebook Marketplace in response to the EU’s antitrust ruling.
Amid California’s wildfires, which are expected to worsen due to forecasted strong winds, power equipment provider Edison International closed down by 10%, marking its worst single-day performance since 2020.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that “useful” quantum computers may still be decades away, causing a collapse in quantum computing stocks. IonQ fell by 39%, Quantum Computing dropped by 43%, and Rigetti Computing plummeted by 45%.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down by 0.67%, with most major Chinese stocks falling. Xpeng Motors dropped by more than 5%, NIO and Kingsoft Cloud fell by over 4%, and Bilibili declined by more than 3%. TAL Education gained over 5%, and NetEase rose more than 2%.
Company News
California Insurance Market on Thin Ice as Wildfires May Accelerate Insurer Exodus
The economic damage from the wildfires in Los Angeles is still unclear, but experts believe its impact could be significant for California’s already troubled insurance market. Due to the increasing scale and frequency of wildfires in recent years, the current wildfires may accelerate the exit of insurers from California. Milliman insurance expert and chief actuary Nancy Watkins noted, “California’s insurance market has always been on thin ice.” As homeowners begin to file claims, insurers covering large swaths of Southern California may face dwindling reserves, forcing them to drop clients, suffer investor penalties, or exit the market altogether. AM Best Senior Director Sridhar Manim remarked that if insurers continue to leave California, already high premiums will rise further, making it more difficult for people to secure insurance.
BlackRock to Lay Off Approximately 1% of Its Workforce to Realign Resources and Strategy
BlackRock announced to its employees that the company would lay off around 1% of its workforce. Last year, the firm completed over $25 billion in acquisitions, expanding its business in private market assets and data. BlackRock’s President Rob Kapito and COO Rob Goldstein told employees in a memo on Wednesday that the company plans to realign its resources and strategy through measures such as layoffs. With over 21,000 employees, about 200 people will be affected.
Intel to Continue Focus on Discrete Graphics Market
At CES 2025, Intel’s new co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus stated in her keynote speech, “We are highly committed to the discrete graphics market and will continue making strategic investments in this direction.” Earlier, Intel had hinted that further investment in discrete graphics may not be necessary.
Apple, Google, and Samsung to Accept Matter Certification for Smart Home Products
At CES 2025, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) announced that Apple, Google, and Samsung would accept its “Works With” certification program. The CSA also mentioned that Apple has started accepting testing results for Matter devices used with Works With Apple Home, and Google and Samsung will take similar steps later this year for Works With Google Home and Works With SmartThings certification, highlighting the credibility and reliability of the alliance’s testing program.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December monetary policy meeting show that almost all policymakers believe the inflation outlook poses an increasing risk. Officials noted that if inflation remains high, the Fed may keep interest rates unchanged or reduce monetary easing at a slower pace.
Charlie Ripley, Senior Investment Strategist at Allianz Investment Management, stated, “Inflation is a key and unpredictable economic variable for 2025, with many factors that could pose risks and drive inflation back up.”
On the same day, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.691%, and the 30-year yield reached 4.931%, the highest level since November 1, 2023.
The sharp rise in bond yields could have an unsettling effect on the stock market. On one hand, it increases borrowing costs for the entire economy; on the other, as the risk-free yields on government bonds rise, higher-risk assets such as stocks may come under pressure.
As Trump is set to take office later this month, concerns over the U.S. imposing additional tariffs on trade partners have kept investors on edge.
Thomas Hayes, Chairman of Great Hill Capital LLC, remarked, “If broader tariffs are implemented, they could have a short-term impact on inflation. The Federal Reserve will closely monitor Trump’s policy actions, and government spending cuts could partially alleviate the inflationary pressures caused by tariffs.”
In honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, U.S. stock markets will be closed for one day tomorrow, and the bond market will close early at 2 p.m. EST.
Market Dynamics
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 106.84 points, or 0.25%, to 42,635.20; the Nasdaq dropped by 10.80 points, or 0.06%, to 19,478.88; and the S&P 500 gained 9.21 points, or 0.16%, to 5,918.24.
Sector-specific ETFs in the U.S. showed mixed results, with the healthcare sector ETF rising by 0.52%, the internet stocks index ETF increasing by over 0.4%, the financial and consumer discretionary ETFs gaining around 0.3%, while the global tech stocks index ETF declined by nearly 0.1%, and the semiconductor ETF dropped by 0.71%.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed gains. The consumer staples sector rose by 0.46%, the financial sector by 0.31%, the healthcare sector by 0.53%, the information technology sector by 0.09%, and the communication services sector fell by 0.75%.
Performance of Popular Stocks
Large tech stocks showed mixed performance. Meta declined by 1.16%, Alphabet A dropped by 0.79%, Nvidia fell by 0.02%, Amazon closed up by 0.01%, Tesla rose by 0.15%, Apple gained 0.2%, and Microsoft increased by 0.52%.
eBay rose by about 10% after Meta announced it would display listings of products from its competitor eBay on Facebook Marketplace in response to the EU’s antitrust ruling.
Amid California’s wildfires, which are expected to worsen due to forecasted strong winds, power equipment provider Edison International closed down by 10%, marking its worst single-day performance since 2020.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that “useful” quantum computers may still be decades away, causing a collapse in quantum computing stocks. IonQ fell by 39%, Quantum Computing dropped by 43%, and Rigetti Computing plummeted by 45%.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down by 0.67%, with most major Chinese stocks falling. Xpeng Motors dropped by more than 5%, NIO and Kingsoft Cloud fell by over 4%, and Bilibili declined by more than 3%. TAL Education gained over 5%, and NetEase rose more than 2%.
Company News
California Insurance Market on Thin Ice as Wildfires May Accelerate Insurer Exodus
The economic damage from the wildfires in Los Angeles is still unclear, but experts believe its impact could be significant for California’s already troubled insurance market. Due to the increasing scale and frequency of wildfires in recent years, the current wildfires may accelerate the exit of insurers from California. Milliman insurance expert and chief actuary Nancy Watkins noted, “California’s insurance market has always been on thin ice.” As homeowners begin to file claims, insurers covering large swaths of Southern California may face dwindling reserves, forcing them to drop clients, suffer investor penalties, or exit the market altogether. AM Best Senior Director Sridhar Manim remarked that if insurers continue to leave California, already high premiums will rise further, making it more difficult for people to secure insurance.
BlackRock to Lay Off Approximately 1% of Its Workforce to Realign Resources and Strategy
BlackRock announced to its employees that the company would lay off around 1% of its workforce. Last year, the firm completed over $25 billion in acquisitions, expanding its business in private market assets and data. BlackRock’s President Rob Kapito and COO Rob Goldstein told employees in a memo on Wednesday that the company plans to realign its resources and strategy through measures such as layoffs. With over 21,000 employees, about 200 people will be affected.
Intel to Continue Focus on Discrete Graphics Market
At CES 2025, Intel’s new co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus stated in her keynote speech, “We are highly committed to the discrete graphics market and will continue making strategic investments in this direction.” Earlier, Intel had hinted that further investment in discrete graphics may not be necessary.
Apple, Google, and Samsung to Accept Matter Certification for Smart Home Products
At CES 2025, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) announced that Apple, Google, and Samsung would accept its “Works With” certification program. The CSA also mentioned that Apple has started accepting testing results for Matter devices used with Works With Apple Home, and Google and Samsung will take similar steps later this year for Works With Google Home and Works With SmartThings certification, highlighting the credibility and reliability of the alliance’s testing program.
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