Chicago Bulls Mascot Benny the Bull dunks the ball during the halftime show of the Missouri Valley Conference college basketball game between the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers and the Illinois State Redbirds on February 2, 2019.

(Michael Allio/Getty Images)

Stocks trade higher as tech rebound continues

Tech was the best-performing sector for the second consecutive session.

2/9/26 4:02PM

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all climbed higher, with the benchmark index trading just below its record closing high. Tech was the best-performing sector for the second consecutive session.

The price of bitcoin stabilized after sinking below $70,000 this morning, but meme coins Pepe, shiba inu, Bonk, pengu, dogwifhat, and trump continued to slide.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 soared to a record high after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won the lower house election in a landslide victory.

This week brings delayed economic data, including the January jobs report on Wednesday and January’s consumer price index on Friday, both of which could offer clues into the Fed’s interest rate plans.

Stocks that moved higher:

Oracle powered higher as DA Davidson gave the stock a “buy” rating on the belief that OpenAI is increasingly likely to be able to make good on billions of dollars’ worth of planned spending on computing power at Oracle.
AppLovin jumped after CapitalWatch announced “significant revisions” to the report that alleged AppLovin is a money-laundering operation for “transnational criminal kingpins.” However, CapitalWatch says its stance on company “remains unchanged.”
Roblox spiked as Roth Capital upgraded the stock and hiked its price target, citing growth in 18-plus users.
Kroger gained on a report that it plans to name former Walmart US executive Greg Foran as its CEO.
SoFi Technologies rose after Citizens upgraded its stock to “market outperform” from “perform,” with a price target of $30.

Stocks that moved lower:

Hims & Hers tumbled after being sued by Novo Nordisk, which is accusing Hims of infringing on one of its key patents for semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
AMC sank following its filing to sell up to $150 million in stock.
Workday slid as CEO Carl Eschenbach stepped down, with cofounder Aneel Bhusri returning as CEO.
Micron and Sandisk dipped after a weekend report that Samsung is beginning “mass production” of its latest memory product, HBM4, slightly earlier than expected.

Matt Phillips7h

Nasdaq Composite enters correction territory, joining small-cap Russell 2000

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 10.9% from its high of 24,019.99 — reached during intraday trading on October 29 — putting the tech-heavy benchmark conclusively into a “correction.”

A correction is Wall Street’s term of art for a sell-off that’s graver than a garden-variety slump, but not quite as dire as a bear market. (A bear market commences when prices are down 20% from a peak.)

While the proximate cause in the Nasdaq turndown seems to be t he war — the Composite is down more than 5% since the start of the conflict on February 28 — it’s worth noting that the index had been stalled out for three months prior to that.

At least Nasdaq investors aren’t alone: the small-cap Russell 2000 slipped into a correction last Friday. The S&P 500 has held up better, relatively speaking, though it, too, is down more than 7% from its intraday high of 7,002.28, which it touched on January 28.

Markets sell off as Mideast conflict shows no sign of ending

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all fell while oil rose.

Toby Bochan7h

Max Knoblauch10h

Hertz and Avis Budget appear to be benefiting as travelers balk at airport wait times

As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown drags on, resulting in some excruciating airport wait times, rental car companies Avis and Hertz are seeing a boost.

Both companies are up more than 10% on Thursday, continuing a weeklong trend of trading momentum. From market close on March 20 to midday Thursday, Avis shares are up about 44%, while Hertz shares are up 24%.

Would-be flyers may be pivoting from sky to highway, even as gas prices climb. According to TravelPulse, search traffic for Hertz is up 15% in recent days.

The TSA is experiencing the longest wait times in its 24-year history, officials have said. Airfares rising as jet fuel prices remain elevated is likely adding to travelers’ decision.

Hertz Reports Spike in Car Rental Searches as US Airports Deal With Long TSA Lines

Would-be flyers may be pivoting from sky to highway, even as gas prices climb. According to TravelPulse, search traffic for Hertz is up 15% in recent days.

The TSA is experiencing the longest wait times in its 24-year history, officials have said. Airfares rising as jet fuel prices remain elevated is likely adding to travelers’ decision.

Saleah Blancaflor11h

US gas prices increase $1 in 1 month as markets expect $4 per gallon in coming days

As gas demand remains on the rise in the midst of spring break season and crude oil prices rise as hopes the Iran war will draw down decrease, gas prices have steadily risen.

According to the American Automobile Association, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is up $0.10 from the previous week and up $1 since last month. AAA reports that there was a steep rise from $2.98 on February 26 to $3.98 as of March 26.

AAA said that average gas prices could hit $4 per gallon in the next few days, which would mark the first time since August 2022 that they’ve hit that level.

According to the Energy Information Administration, demand for gas rose last week from 8.72 million barrels per day to 8.92 million. The data also shows that domestic gas supply fell from 244 million barrels to 241.4 million. Meanwhile, gas production grew last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels per day.

Prediction markets show traders pricing in a 61% chance the price of gas could surpass $4 by the end of the month. As AAA projects that gas prices could continue to rise in the next few weeks, markets also imply there’s a 42% and 40% chance gas could finish roughly around $4.02 or $4.04 per gallon, respectively, by March 31.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

National gas prices increase one dollar in one month

AAA said that average gas prices could hit $4 per gallon in the next few days, which would mark the first time since August 2022 that they’ve hit that level.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

Max Knoblauch12h

Ethanol players climb following the Trump administration’s move to waive summer gas regulations

Ethanol-exposed companies are climbing on Thursday, following the Trump administration’s move yesterday to waive summertime limitations on the sale of E15 gas, a blend of fuel containing 15% ethanol.

Sale of the higher-ethanol blend is limited in about half of the US over the summer months to lessen smog. Including this year, those limitations have been waived for five summers in a row. According to Axios reporting, E15 typically costs about $0.10 to $0.40 less per gallon while delivering slightly lower fuel economy.

Ethanol companies are climbing on the decision, with Rex American Resources up more than 5%, Green Plains up 3%, and Gevo up about 2%. Rex and Gevo also closed higher on Wednesday.