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WALL STREET RALLIES WITH MEGACAPS IN CHARGE

Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 .SPX scoring its biggest one-day percentage gain since January 15th and ending the session down just 0.06% from its record closing high reached on January 23rd. However, the S&P 100 index .OEX did manage a record closing high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC led Wall Street's advance, rising 1.5% vs the S&P 500's 1.04% advance. And megacaps Nvidia NVDA.O, Apple Inc AAPL.O and Tesla TSLA.O were the S&P 500's biggest boosts. The tech elite NYSE FANG+ .NYFANG index, up 1.5% on the day, also boasted a record closing high.

This was even as two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the White House is seeking to renegotiate U.S. CHIPS and Science Act awards and signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements.

Also U.S. President Donald Trump asked his economics team to devise a plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on every country imposing duties on U.S. imports in a fresh salvo at American friends and foes, ramping up prospects for a global trade war.

Consumer staples .SPLRCS boasted a record closing high although with an 0.97% gain on the day, it was only the 5th biggest gainer among the S&P's 11 major industry sectors.

Materials .SPLRCM was the biggest gainer, up 1.7%. While the sector has made a solid rebound - up 5.5% YTD after falling sharply in December - Adam Turnquist, Chief Technical Strategist for LPL Financial (Charlotte, NC) wrote that "the fundamental backdrop for the materials space continues to underwhelm."

With 22/28 materials sector stocks having reported Q4 numbers only 68% beat bottom-line estimates and less than a quarter topped revenue estimates compared with S&P 500 earnings and revenue beat rates of 76% and 54%, respectively, he said. And the sector has seen "significant downward earnings revisions for the calendar year 2025 over the last few months," Turnquist said.

Here is your closing snapshot:

(Sinéad Carew, Terence Gabriel)

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