The S&P 500 squeaked past its previous record closing high on Tuesday at the top of a holiday-shortened week, with earnings season winding down, U.S. Federal Reserve minutes on tap, and geopolitical uncertainties churning in the background.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.26 points, or 0.02%, to 44,556.34, the S&P 500 rose 14.95 points, or 0.24%, to 6,129.58 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 14.49 points, or 0.07%, to 20,041.26.
Market Movers
Intel climbed 16% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were weighing separate deals that would split Intel in two. Furthermore, Buyout firm Silver Lake is in exclusive talks to purchase a majority stake in Intel's programmable chip business Altera, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
Shares of Super Micro Computer Inc. soared 16% Tuesday, continuing a four-day trading streak, with the stock now the best performer in the S&P 500 this year on hopes of some very hefty artificial-intelligence server deals in the near future.
Bank of America was down 0.9% and Citigroup was flat afterBerkshire Hathaway disclosed that itreduced its stakes in both banksduring the fourth quarter, according to a 13-F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Berkshireestablished a holdingin Constellation Brands, which jumped 3.9%, and roughly doubled its stake in Domino’s Pizza, which was up 0.2%.
Berkshire, headed by CEO Warren Buffett, left its position in Apple unchanged. The stock is the conglomerate’s largest equity holding, at 300 million shares. Shares of the iPhone maker were flat.
Occidental Petroleum , another stock owned by Berkshire, was up 1.6% ahead of the oil producer’s earnings. The falling price of crude oil and promises by President Donald Trump to raise energy production and keep oil prices low have hurt shares, which are down nearly 19% over the past 12 months.
Shares of Tesla dipped 0.5% after a report that approval of Tesla’s full self-driving driver assistance productcould be delayedin China. A regulatory filing on Friday revealed that Dan Loeb’s Third Point increased its holdings in the electric-vehicle maker in the fourth quarter, as well as inMeta Platforms, a social-media company. The fund sold off its position in Apple and established stakes inCapital One FinancialandDiscover Financial Services.
Meta Platforms was down 2.8%, putting an end to its record rally. The company extended its winning streak to 20 sessions on Friday. The stock began rising in mid-January and weathered the biggest market-moving news, including the tech selloff triggered by DeepSeek and the looming threat of chip tariffs.
Delta Air Lines fell 1.6% after a flight operated by the Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air flipped over on landing at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. In astatement, the carrier said 18 customers had been taken to local hospitals. The crash came just three weeks after an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter in midair, killing 67.
Bitcoin-related stocks Coinbase Global and MicroStrategy, which changed its name to Strategy this month, were down 3.5% and 1.1%, respectively. The price of the cryptocurrencyhas been battered by disappointment over Trump’s failure to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve. MicroStrategy revealed on Tuesdaythat it didn’t purchase any Bitcoin between Feb. 10-17, the second time this year. Bitcoin has fallen 1.1% over the last 24 hours to $95,050, according to CoinDesk data.
Market News
Trump Floats 25% Tariffs on US Auto, Drug, Chip Imports
President Donald Trump said he would likely impose tariffs on automobile, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports of around 25%, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2.
The new duties, if implemented, would widen the president’s trade war. Trump previously announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that are set to take effect in March, but Tuesday’s comments are his most detailed yet in specifying other sectors that would be hit with fresh barriers.
Strategy Unveils Plan to Sell $2 Billion Zero-Coupon Convertible Bonds
Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, said it plans to sell $2 billion of bonds that convert into stock.
The convertible-debt offering is part of Strategy's audacious plan to raise $42 billion through 2027 to purchase bitcoins. It is also the company's first convertible-bond sale this year.
Last year alone, Strategy issued $6.2 billion of convertible debt-the most ever issued by a single company in a calendar year, according to Bank of America.
