Markets
Bear going for fruit
Bear going for fruit (Armen Nimani/Getty Images)

S&P 500 extends losing streak to five sessions

The benchmark US index tied its longest losing streak since April 2024.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 gave back 0.5% while the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 0.2% advance. The benchmark US index has now declined for five straight sessions, tying its longest losing streak since April 2024.

Every S&P 500 sector ETF declined outside of the commodity-linked energy and materials groups, with consumer staples faring the worst. That was in large part due to Walmart, which dropped 4.5% after the mega retailer missed quarterly earnings expectations for the first time in three years. Declines were led by First Solar, which fell 7%.

Paramount Skydance was a bright spot on the tape, jumping 14.6% as call option activity surged. Separately, the newly formed media giant is facing scrutiny in Washington.

Meta shares fell about 1.2% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the tech giant is freezing new AI hires without express permission from the company’s chief AI officer.

Coty shares sank 21.4% as investors digested the beauty conglomerate’s disappointing Q4 results, including a surprise profit loss.

Shares of Cracker Barrel dipped 7% as the Southern-themed restaurant chains new minimalist logo design sparked a flood of criticism from fans online.

Hertz shares fell 2.5% after Congress requested a meeting with officials to discuss the companys controversial use of AI damage scanners.

Nio shares rose 9% following the popular Chinese EV maker unveiling the latest model of its ES8 electric SUV, which has begun presales.

HP Enterprise shares were up 3.7% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock, raising its rating to “overweight” (or buy) from “neutral,” and hiked its its price target to $28 from $22.

CoreWeave shares were up as much as 3% in premarket trading before closing the day largely flat, after quantitative trading and market-making firm Jane Street revealed a 5.4% stake in the company.

More Markets

See all Markets

Global automakers sink as Trump implies the trade war is heating back up

Shares of several major automakers with large footprints in China sank on Friday following President Trump’s threats to massively increase tariffs on goods from China in response to what he called hostile export controls.

Chinese EV titans like BYD, Nio, and XPeng plunged after Trump’s Truth Social post, along with automakers like Tesla and Stellantis that heavily rely on revenue from sales in the country.

EV makers like Rivian and Lucid, which source raw materials and or batteries from China, were also down following the post.

The move comes at a rocky time for US automakers, with the end of the EV tax credit expected to heavily ding sales for the rest of the year.

markets

Rare earth stocks spike after Trump says China should not be allowed to hold the world “captive” on rare earths

Shares of rare earth metal producers soared Friday after the president published a Truth Social statement decrying what he describes as Chinese efforts to control the pipeline of the sought-after minerals.

Companies such as MP Materials — which the US government recently took a stake in — USA Rare Earth, and Critical Metals jumped, suggesting investor bets that the the administration could play a bigger role in ensuring US access to rare earths.

Companies such as MP Materials — which the US government recently took a stake in — USA Rare Earth, and Critical Metals jumped, suggesting investor bets that the the administration could play a bigger role in ensuring US access to rare earths.

markets
Luke Kawa

US stocks sink after Trump says he’s considering a “massive increase” of tariffs on Chinese imports

More tariffs might be back on the menu.

US stocks reversed lower after US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he is considering a “massive increase” on tariffs of Chinese imports.

Trump said he’s mulling higher levies as well as “many other countermeasures” because of “the hostile ‘order’ that they have just put out” restricting the export of rare earth metals. He also seemingly canceled his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in two weeks, saying “now there seems to be no reason to do so.”

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF, Invesco QQQ Trust, and iShares Russell 2000 ETF all gave up early gains to fall more than 1%. A basket of stocks compiled by Goldman Sachs of US companies that have significant revenue exposure to China is off more than 2%.

Wafer fab equipment stocks Lam Research, Applied Materials, and KLA Corp, which all count China as their top market, are underperforming, as is iPhone seller Apple.

Chip stocks Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, Broadcom, and Nvidia are all getting hit on the news, as rare earths are needed components for semiconductor production. For Tesla, it’s a similar story given its footprint in China and the importance of rare earths for EVs.

There’s also a lot of plain old dumping of recent winners.

Super Micro Computer, Coinbase, and Robinhood Markets are among the biggest laggards since Trump’s post as investors cut risk.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

The rare earth curbs are far from the only recent example of China stepping up its defense of domestic industry and resources. Qualcomm is the subject of an antitrust investigation, stringent checks of semiconductor shipments are reportedly in place as officials look to keep Nvidia’s chips from entering the country, and separate reporting indicates that US ships will be charged an escalating fee for docking at Chinese ports.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.