CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 05: Benny, the mascot for the Chicago Bulls entertains during a break between the Bulls and the Boston Celtics at the United Center on March 5, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The S&P 500 closes at a record high

The Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

1/6/26 4:01PM

The three major US indexes climbed higher, with the S&P 500 setting a new record high. In a reversal of yesterday’s gains, energy was the worst-performing sector. Investors piled into semiconductors as developments from the CES conference in Las Vegas buoyed enthusiasm for the AI trade.

Stocks that moved higher:

Uber rallied after debuting a new Lucid robotaxi at CES.
Nebius jumped after announcing that it will be among the first to offer Nvidia’s Vera Rubin NVL72 racks.
Data storage stocks Sandisk, Western Digital, Micron, and Seagate Technology Holdings surged after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called the market “completely unserved.”
Alumis skyrocketed after reporting positive late-stage results on a psoriasis drug that rivals a J&J product.
Aeva jumped after announcing that its 4D lidar technology will be used in Nvidia’s autonomous vehicle architecture.
Low-cost airline JetBlue took off, fueled by bullish options activity.
Retail favorite Rocket Lab closed at a new all-time high. Other space plays such as AST SpaceMobile and EchoStar also surged today.
Zeta soared after announcing a collaboration with OpenAI to power its enterprise marketing agent.
Vistra moved higher after announcing a deal to buy Cogentrix Energy, which owns 10 gas-fired power plants, in a $4.7 billion deal.
Accenture rose after reaching a deal to acquire Faculty, a UK-based AI startup and Palantir rival.
Moderna rallied after Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $24 from $21.

Stocks that moved lower:

Tesla dipped after Nvidia rolled out autonomous tech that could threaten Tesla’s long-standing advantage by allowing rivals to buy the hardware, software, and safety infrastructure Tesla built for itself.
AIG slid as the insurance company named a new CEO.
Data center water-cooling stocks Carrier, Trane Technologies, and Johnson Controls sank after Huang said that new AI racks won’t need this equipment.
Equifax and TransUnion dropped after the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency questioned credit bureau pricing in a post on X.
Gaming platform Roblox fell following reports of widespread outages overnight and a lowered price target from TD Cowen.

Tasha Matsumoto

S&P 500 closes lower after notching new intraday high

The Nasdaq 100 eked out a small gain, while the Russell 2000 fell.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 17: Mascot Staley Da Bear of the Chicago Bears runs onto the field prior to an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on November 17, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

Matt Phillips4h

Blackstone and Invitation Homes get hammered as Trump calls for ban on Wall Street buying single-family homes

Shares of Blackstone and Invitation Homes dove early Wednesday afternoon after President Trump called on Congress to pass a law banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

Blackstone and Invitation Homes are some of the largest owners of private homes in the country. Homebuilders including PulteGroup, DR Horton, and Lennar also stumbled on the news.

Nationwide, institutional investors own a small share — less than 1%, according to the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute — of US single family homes, which has led some to argue that they have had a relatively small impact on housing prices. But their concentration in particular markets, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Charlotte, has prompted others, like center-left think tank Third Way, to argue that their purchases can have an effect on specific markets, neighborhoods, or certain types of houses.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Blackstone and Invitation Homes are some of the largest owners of private homes in the country. Homebuilders including PulteGroup, DR Horton, and Lennar also stumbled on the news.

Matt Phillips4h

Intel surges amid CES announcements, Mobileye news

Intel surged to a new 52-week high in early trading, though it gave back a large chunk of the early gains by the afternoon. There were few headlines that could clearly explain the run-up of gains, which peaked around 11%.

One potential driver of the move might be optimism surrounding the company’s unveiling of a new line of processors at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday.

Another possible candidate was the reflected glow of a deal announcement from Mobileye, the autonomous driving company that Intel holds a significant stake in.

Mobileye initially rose after buying Mentee — an artificial intelligence robotics company — for $900 million in cash and stock in a deal that’s expected to close this quarter.

(Intel spun off Mobileye in 2022, but retained a controlling stake in the company.)

Finally, news that Qualcomm is perhaps looking to use contractors outside Taiwan for its next-generation chip — though it’s reportedly speaking to Korea’s Samsung for that, not Intel — may be raising hopes that chipmakers looking to diversify away from Taiwan could become customers for Intel’s troubled contract chipmaking division.

But again, there’s no clear reason to point to for its outperformance on Wednesday.

Mobileye Acquires Startup Mentee Robotics for $900 Million

Mobileye initially rose after buying Mentee — an artificial intelligence robotics company — for $900 million in cash and stock in a deal that’s expected to close this quarter.

(Intel spun off Mobileye in 2022, but retained a controlling stake in the company.)

But again, there’s no clear reason to point to for its outperformance on Wednesday.

Toby Bochan

Managing futures risk: Understanding how much you stand to make or lose

The leverage futures offer can cut both ways.