Summary

US benchmark equity indexes closed mixed Wednesday as markets parsed latest housing data, while Tesla's shares remained under pressure for the fifth day in a row.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 19,075.3, while the S&P 500 was flat at 5,956.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 43,433.1. Among sectors, consumer staples saw the biggest drop, while tech led the gainers.

In economic news, new-home sales in the US fell more than expected in January as median prices at the national level picked up both sequentially and annually, government data showed. "Risks to new-home sales and residential investment more broadly are weighted to the downside this year because of high mortgage rates, potential for tariffs on imported building materials from Canada and Mexico along with potential labor supply issues stemming from the Trump administration's immigration policies," Oxford Economics said.

Mortgage applications in the US declined for the second consecutive week as refinancing activity weakened, even as the 30-year interest rate for conforming loan balances decreased to its lowest level since the middle of December, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

US Treasury yields dropped, with the 10-year rate down four basis points to 4.258% and the two-year rate falling two basis points at 4.076%.

In company news, Tesla saw one of the steepest declines on the S&P 500, down 4% after an 8.4% slide on Tuesday. The electric vehicle maker's January deliveries in Europe fell roughly 50% year over year, a development that could derail its guidance for deliveries growth in 2025, Morningstar analysts said Tuesday.

AppLovin's shares plunged 12% Wednesday after short sellers Fuzzy Panda Research and Culper Research released separate allegations about the company.

Axon Enterprise shares jumped 15%, the top gainer on the S&P 500. Late Tuesday, the company issued a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report.

Intuit followed Axon on the index Wednesday, up 13%. The financial technology platform late Tuesday posted a surprise increase in fiscal second-quarter earnings as revenue gains in QuickBooks and Credit Karma drove the consolidated top-line above Wall Street's expectations.

US stock futures were largely unchanged on Thursday as investors digested Nvidia’s earnings report.In after-hours trading, Nvidia’s stock fluctuated around the flatline, despite reporting better-than-expected sales and earnings for the fourth quarter, along with strong guidance for the current quarter. The chipmaker saw a 78% year-on-year revenue increase, fueled by robust demand for its GPUs in the artificial intelligence sector.

Meanwhile, Salesforce experienced a sharp decline of more than 5% following disappointing quarterly results and weak guidance.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.2% to $68.79 a barrel Wednesday.

Gold rose 0.5% to $2,932 per troy ounce, while silver added 1.2% to $32.51 per troy ounce.

Portfolio News

Active Trading Portfolio: We entered the ERU.JPY trade again yesterday afternoon which is currently in a nice profit and heading towards our profit taker target. We expect to be out of that trade today with a profit of circa €400. Check Out the Active Trading Portfolio.
Option Trading Portfolio: We just reopened another SPY financed bear put spread which has a 95% probability of profit. This trade is already in profit but I would like SPY to fall little further from here to really maximise this trade. Check Out the Option Trading portfolio.
Buy and Hold Portfolio: We are considering adding 5 more stocks to the portfolio in the coming days. We will alert our Pro and Premium members when we decide to make a purchase. Novo Nordisk has jumped 9.6% since we bought it two weeks ago! Check out out the Buy and Hold Portfolio. We will let you know when we decide to buy it.