7/2/25

US stocks climb on trade agreement with Vietnam

US stocks steadily gained throughout the day, buoyed by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to close at a record high, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.7%, and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.3% advance.

Energy and materials were the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while tech also bounced back with a 1% advance.

That Vietnam pact was a boon for Nike, which has major operations in the Southeast Asian nation and put in a 4% gain on the day.

Crypto-adjacent stocks had a strong session, with Coinbase up nearly 6% amid its acquisition of token management platform Liquifi, Robinhood hitting an intraday all-time high above $100 along with a record close, and miner Hut 8 soaring on an energy deal.

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

Elsewhere in thematic pockets of the area that posted big gains: quantum stocks surged, with Rigetti Computing’s 15% gain leading the way after the company was initiated with a “buy” rating at Cantor Fitzgerald. Its pure-play peers in the space were up between 8% and 12% on the day, as well.

Constellation Brands, which initially swooned after reporting underwhelming earnings after the close Tuesday, ended up 4.5% higher.

It was a mixed bag for EV stocks, with Tesla jumping despite posting a small miss on Q2 deliveries, and Rivian dropping after both production and deliveries came in shy of estimates.

And now for the bad news:

Centene tanked 40% after management withdrew full-year guidance following an actuarial study that showed the company’s business was not at all evolving as anticipated. Fellow health insurer and retail darling Oscar Health slumped about 19% in sympathy.

Intel sank after Reuters reported that its new CEO is mulling a manufacturing strategy shift that could prompt a massive write-off.

Paramount dipped after agreeing to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit with the president.

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The benchmark US stock index ended up 0.9%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.8% gain.

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markets

18h

Warner Bros. Discovery jumps after Wells Fargo ups price target on dealmaking buzz

Warner Bros. Discovery shares popped 7% Tuesday after Wells Fargo raised its price target on the media giant to $14 from $13 while keeping an equal-weight rating.

The bank’s optimism stemmed largely from the media giant’s potential for dealmaking. In June, WBD announced that it would split its operations into two companies, with the Streaming & Studios division (home to Warner Bros. Television, DC Studios, HBO, and Max) standing alone from the networks side (CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery).

That separation could make the Streaming & Studios unit more attractive to buyers, the analysts said. They valued the segment at about $65 billion, which could translate to a takeover price north of $21 a share. Potential suitors range from Amazon and Apple to Sony and Comcast, though analysts flagged Netflix as the “most compelling” option despite its limited acquisition track record:

“While NFLX has historically not been acquisitive, [streaming and studios’] $12bn in annual content spend + library + 100+ acre studio lot offers a lot. It kickstarts a theatrical IP strategy, quickly scales video games and most importantly provides premium content to members.”

At Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference this week, CEO David Zaslav also highlighted growing traction at HBO Max and hinted at future crackdowns on password sharing.

WBD shares are up 26% year to date, and up more than 93% over the past 12 months.

markets

18h

Duolingo up on bullish note, hopes for a user rebound

Duolingo rose by the most in nearly a month after an analyst note painted a more bullish picture of the gamified language-learning company despite a dearth of news otherwise.

A quick check-in with analysts covering the stock on Wall Street found most of them otherwise flummoxed on the reason behind the uptick Thursday.

Some, however, suggested the rise may reflect optimism that the company has been able to reverse a monthslong downturn in daily active user metrics — a slump that set in after a social media backlash to a somewhat artless LinkedIn post from the company about its AI first strategy.

The bullish analyst note, published Thursday by Citizens JMP, suggested Duolingo could be a big beneficiary from a change to Apple’s rules governing its App Store driven by a ruling on a federal antitrust case against the company. The analysts wrote:

Given “Apple’s recent changes to U.S. App Store rules that allow developers to steer payments to the web where fees are similar to typical credit card fees rather than Apple’s 30% fee for in-app purchases and 30% fee on subscriptions for the first year and 15% thereafter, we expect mobile app companies including Duolingo, Life360, and Grindr Inc. to unlock meaningful cost benefits.”

At any rate, the next big event on the company’s calendar is its Duocon 2025 conference on Tuesday, where analysts are hoping to hear more hard information on all of the above topics.

markets

19h

Jeep maker Stellantis surges as CEO says the automaker is in productive tariff talks with the US

Shares of Jeep and Dodge maker Stellantis are up more than 8% in Thursday afternoon trading, following comments from the automaker’s new CEO, Antonio Filosa, at a European auto conference.

On tariffs, Filosa said that Stellantis has had a “very productive exchange of ideas” with the Trump administration on the company’s manufacturing footprint and that the environment around the levies is “getting clearer and clearer.”

The US is Stellantis’ top priority, according to Filosa, and the company has taken efforts to turn things around in the market, where it’s struggled with sales in recent years. To fuel the turnaround, Stellantis is bringing back its popular Jeep Cherokee, which it discontinued in 2023.

As of 12:45 p.m. ET, Stellantis’ trading volume was at more than 140% of its average over the past 30 days.

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