Wall Street Sees Post-Holiday Gains, Oil Rallies, Intel Leads: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?

Zinger Key Points
  • U.S. stocks post slight gains; S&P 500 nears record high, up 0.3% on thin trading volumes post-Christmas.
  • Russell 2000 leads, up 0.7%; Tech and blue-chips modestly higher, gold gains, while dollar and Bitcoin slip.

The U.S. stock market saw modest gains in a session characterized by low trading volumes following the Christmas holiday. The S&P 500 Index gained 0.3% during midday trading in New York, eyeing its all-time highs, which are 1% above the current levels.

Tech stocks within the Nasdaq 100 index experienced a slight uptick of 0.4%, while blue-chip stocks rose by 0.2%.

Small-cap stocks, as represented by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, continued to outperform large-cap indices, extending the market narrative from December.

The dollar saw a marginal 0.2% decrease, while Treasury yields remained stable. Gold recorded a 0.3% increase, reaching $2,060 per ounce, while Bitcoin BTC/USD experienced a 3% decline.

Oil prices rallied, with WTI crude prices surging by over 3% to $76 per barrel on Tuesday, driven in part by intensified disruptions in Red Sea trade.

Tuesday’s Performance In US Major Indices, ETFs

Major Indices & ETFsPriceChange
Russell 20002,048.93+0.7%
Nasdaq 10016,851.14+0.4%
S&P 5004,769.81+0.3%
Dow Jones37,481.22+0.3%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.3% higher to $474.28, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA was 0.1% higher to $374.41 and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ inched up 0.3% to $409.02, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Sector-wise, staples and utilities outperformed, with both the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU up 0.9%.

The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY was the only sector in the red, down 0.3%.

Among industries, the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH led gains, up 2%, while airlines lagged behind, with the U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS falling 0.4%.

Tuesday’s Stock Movers

  • Intel Corp INTC shares rose 4.4% after announcing its $25-billion investment plan in Israel, with $3.2 billion in government incentives secured.
  • Plug Power Inc. PLUG rose nearly 5% after the Biden administration unveiled tax credits to hydrogen producers on Friday.
  • Shares of Manchester United MANU surged close to 3% after British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe committed to purchasing 25% of the club’s Class B shares and as much as 25% of its Class A shares at a price of $33 each.
  • Apple Inc. AAPL eased 0.2% after the White House decided Tuesday to uphold the sales ban on Apple.
  • Shares of Carnival Corp. CCL and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH dipped by 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively, retracting after a period of robust gains.

Read now: What’s Going On With Manchester United Stock Today?

Photo via Shutterstock.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: EquitiesLarge CapMid CapSector ETFsBroad U.S. Equity ETFsSmall CapTop StoriesMarketsTechETFsMidday Market UpdateStories That Mattertop stories
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!