Reports suggested that U.S. President Trump might ease the new tariff policy, causing surprise in the markets. This initially drove U.S. stocks higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly surpassing 43,000 points, gaining over 380 points. However, after Trump denied the claims, the Dow reversed its gains, closing slightly down by 25 points at 42,706. The S&P 500 managed to close up 32 points, or 0.6%, at 5,975, while the Nasdaq maintained its upward trajectory, closing 243 points higher, or 1.2%, at 19,864.
The semiconductor sector outperformed, with NVIDIA (NVDA, Financial) rising for the third consecutive day by more than 3%, and Micron Technology (MU) surging over 10%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) also climbed more than 3%.
Disney (DIS) announced a merger of Hulu+ Live TV and Fubotv's streaming service, which sent Fubotv's (FUBO) stock soaring by an astonishing 251%, while Disney remained stable. Tesla (TSLA) showed little change in its stock price following the release of its fourth-quarter delivery data. Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) reportedly plans to delay the use of TSMC's (TSM) 2-nanometer chips until the iPhone 18 series, after initially considering them for the iPhone 17, resulting in a stock increase of less than 1%.
