US Open: Markets mostly in the red at the end of the first week of Trump's presidency

• US500 edges up 0.08% to 6,152.9, showing resilience while US2000 declines -0.28% to 2,316.8, as VIX eases -0.43% to 16.33
• CSX shares tumble after missing Q4 estimates, with analysts cutting targets as company faces $350M in hurricane and bridge outage headwinds
• Texas Instruments drops 5% on weak guidance and margin concerns, dragging peers lower with Analog Devices down -2.4% and NXP falling -2.8%
• Palantir gains momentum on federal AI spending prospects, with Wedbush raising target to $90 amid Project Stargate initiative backed by major tech players
• European markets show strength led by W20 (+0.76%) and AUT20 (+0.3%), while utility sector leads S&P 500 gains at +0.65%, offsetting energy's -0.65% decline

US Markets Mixed: The US500 shows modest gains of 0.08% to 6152.9, while smaller caps face pressure with the US2000 down -0.28% to 2316.8. The US30 is slightly negative at -0.11% to 44681. Market volatility remains contained, with the VIX down -0.43% to 16.33. 

European Markets Mixed with Positive Bias: European markets show resilience with several indices in green territory. The W20 leads gains at +0.76% to 2396.6, followed by AUT20 (+0.29% to 3836). However, some markets remain under pressure, with NED25 down -0.99% to 901.78, UK100 falling -0.91% to 8483.0, and SPA35 declining -0.64% to 11969.

S&P 500 Sectors Show Mixed Performance: The market displays varied sector performance, with Utilities leading gains (+0.65%), followed by Communication Services (+0.57%) and Consumer Staples (+0.16%). Energy shows the largest decline (-0.65%), while Health Care (-0.25%) and Industrials (-0.20%) also face pressure. Information Technology is marginally down (-0.01%), and Financials show slight gains (+0.07%). The overall S&P 500 remains stable with a modest gain of 0.02%.

Current volatility observed on Wall Street. Source: xStation 

The Nasdaq-100 index, represented by the US100 contract, is approaching the late December highs. For bears, the immediate downside targets include the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level, which aligns with the early December high of 21,668, followed by the 50-day SMA at 21,370 and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.

The RSI has risen above a historically significant support level, indicating the potential continuation of bullish momentum. Meanwhile, the MACD is maintaining its uptrend and showing strong bullish divergence, further supporting the possibility of upward movement.Source: xStation

News:

• CSX (CSX.US) shares drop 3% after missing Q4 earnings estimates, with EPS of 38c vs 45c y/y. The rail transport giant faces $350M in headwinds from hurricanes and the Key Bridge outage, leading multiple analysts to cut price targets. Management projects low to mid-single-digit volume growth for 2025 but warns of pressure from lower coal benchmarks and diesel prices. The company's operating income fell 16% to $1.11B while revenue declined 3.8% to $3.54B.
• Texas Instruments (TXN.US) tumbles 5%, marking its steepest intraday decline since March 2020, as Q1 guidance signals persistent weakness in key markets. Despite Q4 revenue beating estimates at $4.01B, the chipmaker's EPS forecast of 94c-$1.16 falls short of the $1.17 consensus. Analysts highlight concerns over lower gross margins and ongoing challenges in industrial and automotive segments, with Morgan Stanley warning of continued margin underperformance through 2026.
• Palantir (PLTR.US) gains momentum (+2.3%) as Wedbush raises price target to $90, citing potential benefits from federal AI spending through Project Stargate. The initiative, backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, with technology partnerships from Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia, is expected to drive significant government vertical growth. The stock extends its winning streak to seven consecutive sessions, climbing nearly 2% in morning trading.
• Broadcom (AVGO.US) strengthens AI position and gains 3% as Solidigm extends multi-year partnership for high-capacity SSD controllers. The collaboration, spanning over a decade with 120 million SSDs shipped, aims to support growing AI and data-intensive workloads. Goldman Sachs highlights Broadcom's strong positioning alongside Nvidia in AI semiconductors, while Needham projects growth from XPU demand.
• Moderna (MRNA.US) secures multi-year COVID-19 vaccine tender for EU, Norway, and North Macedonia, allowing 17 participating countries access to its mRNA vaccines for up to four years. The agreement includes supply of pre-filled syringes to improve vaccination campaign efficiency. This follows the European Commission's September 2024 approval of Moderna's updated Spikevax formulation targeting the JN.1 variant.

Other news coming from individual S&P 500 index companies. Source: Bloomberg Financial LP