The Dow industrial average is trading above and below unchanged after declining yesterday. That index has yet to reach a new record high in 2025 (the high price was reached on December 4).
Both the S&P and the NASDAQ indices have not had trouble reaching highs. Both have reached new intraday record highs in the first few minutes of trading today. The NASDAQ is leading the way with a gain of 0.55%. The small-cap Russell 2000 is also up around 0.55% in early trading.
A snapshot of the market shows:
- Dow industrial average +13 points or 0.04% at 44853
- S&P index up 14.12 points or 0.22% at 6404.10.
- NASDAQ index up 107 points or 0.51% at 21285.
The small-cap Russell 2000 is up 11.14 points or 0.50% at 2268.
Looking at some of the individual stories today.
-
Novo Nordisk: Shares plunged over 20% after cutting full-year guidance and naming a new CEO; blamed compounded GLP-1 use. Eli Lilly dropped 4% in sympathy.
-
Starbucks: Reports earnings after the close
-
UnitedHealth: Guided down sharply but sees growth in 2026—dubious forecast. Dropped ~1.5% amid ongoing DOJ Medicare probe.
-
Merck: Fell after missing revenue for the first time since 2021, narrowing guidance, and unveiling $3B in cost cuts ahead of Keytruda patent expiration.
-
Boeing: Rose ~1% in premarket trading but is giving up those gains and now trades down -0.79% after narrowing losses and posting best plane deliveries since 2018. CEO calls 2025 the turnaround year. Go figure
-
Union Pacific: Buying Norfolk Southern for $85B to create first coast-to-coast U.S. freight rail operator; may trigger rival mergers.
-
Nvidia: Ordered 300,000 China-specific H20 chips from TSMC after regaining U.S. approval for sales in China. Shares of Nvidia are trading at new record levels and are currently up 1.20%. The price continues to run away from the lagging 100 hour MA which it tested last week at the corrective lows. (see video from last week speaking to the chart price action).
-
Amazon: Wells Fargo raised price target to $245 from $238—a speculative move ahead of Thursday’s earnings. The price is currently trading unchanged at $232.80.
-
AMD continues its move to the upside. Its shares are currently up 2.88% at $178.69. The price has now moved above the October 2024 high price at $174.05. The price yesterday found resistance sellers near that level. Next up $187.
This week Amazon and Apple announce earnings on Thursday. Microsoft and Meta announce earnings after the close on Wednesday (after the FOMC rate decision).
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.