Stocks are little changed as year-end rally pauses, Oracle shares drop: Live updates

There were just 209 advancers in the S&P 500, with the index itself little changed as investors awaited this week’s consumer prices data.

Communication services and consumer discretionary were the top-performing sectors, up by 2% and 0.8%, respectively. By contrast, real estate stocks slid by 1%.

Boeing was the No.1 stock in the broader index, gaining more than 5% after Reuters, citing people familiar, said the company restarted production of its 737 Max jetliner.

On the other hand, Super Micro Computer and Oracle were lower by 8% and 7%, respectively.

— Sarah Min

The declines have also come during the session. As Bespoke Investment Group pointed out in a post on social media site X, the RSP has seen intraday declines in six straight sessions. It would need to rally and close above $184.46 to snap that streak on Tuesday.

The struggles for the RSP are notable because the equal weight fund can be a proxy for market breadth. While the S&P 500 has become increasingly concentrated in a handful of tech names over the past year, the behavior of the RSP is more indicative of the broader large cap stock universe.

— Jesse Pound

Despite those slides, all three funds are still higher compared with where they started the week. That underscores the strength of Monday’s rally.

— Alex Harring

The Trump Trade is already running out of steam, according to Wolfe Research.

“Uncertainty in the first half of 2025 should put a damper on the ‘Trump Trade,'” the firm’s chief investment strategist Chris Senyek wrote Tuesday. “So in the meantime we’d continue to own the Mag 7!”

The Trump Trade will have three parts, Senyek wrote, with the first part unwinding in the immediate aftermath of the election. Senyek expects the second part of the trade will likely come in the first 100 days of the president-elect’s term. The third, he said, will come in the second half of 2025, as incoming data indicates whether Trump’s policy agenda is a positive or negative for economic growth.

For now, as the first part of the Trump Trade finishes its course, Senyek said he would stick to the “Magnificent Seven” that are not in the “crosshairs of policy risk” through the first half of 2025.

— Sarah Min

Shares of Sirius XM slid more than 8% on Tuesday after the radio operator appointed a new chief operating officer and announced cost-cutting initiatives.

The firm said it will target an initial incremental $200 million of annualized savings as it exits 2025, citing “marketplace headwinds.” The company said it will also move its marketing and other resources away from “high-cost, high-churn audiences in streaming.”

Shares of Alaska Air Group rose nearly 11% in premarket trading on the heels of the carrier raising its fourth-quarter earnings forecast and authorizing a $1 billion stock buyback.

The company now expects earnings to come in between 40 cents and 50 cents per share, up from its prior guidance of 20 cents to 40 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for earnings of 49 cents per share for the period.

Alaska Air also announced it is going to launch new nonstop flights to Japan and Korea in 2025 as part of its plan to deliver $1 billion in profit by 2027.

The stock has outperformed the broader market this year, jumping more than 38% year to date. Shares have also gained around 36% over the past three months.

— Sean Conlon, Leslie Josephs

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas appears to be cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the auto industry heading in 2025.

“The US election result has extended the ‘ICE is Nice’ trade for a bit longer but keep on the lookout for hidden value in the EV ecosystem into the 2H. We recommend investors stay nimble and selective given the volatility of policy outcomes,” Jonas said in a note to clients on Tuesday. “ICE” stands for internal combustion engine, the traditional alternative to electric vehicles.

Morgan Stanley made two changes to its ratings of auto stocks: an upgrade of General Motors to equal weight from underweight, and hiking the price target on Tesla to $400 per share from $310.

The new price target is just 2.5% above where Tesla closed on Monday, but the stock is still Jonas’ top pick in the industry.

Tesla could be a beneficiary from the new Trump administration if change leads to regulatory changes that usher along an autonomous driving future.

“If the Trump Administration looks to clear the path for a Federal framework on autonomous vehicles, we believe investors will eventually appreciate that the discussion of AVs is also a discussion about EVs. Among a range of policy tools, we see tariffs as a lever to help accelerate onshoring of enabling technology underpinned by more de-risked supply chain,” Jonas said.

— Jesse Pound

These are the stocks moving the most in premarket trading:

• Oracle — The database software company slid roughly 7% after posting fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that lagged analysts’ estimates.
• Alaska Air Group — The Seattle-based carrier guided Q4 results higher and set a $1 billion buyback, sending the stock 11% higher.
• MongoDB — The database platform tumbled 7% after Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Michael Gordon stepped down effective Jan. 31.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Small businesses sentiment popped to its highest level in nearly three and a half years following November’s presidential election, the National Federation of Independent Business reported Tuesday.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index hit 101.7 for November, an increase of 8 points and the best reading since June 2021. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a reading of 94.8.

“The election results signal a major shift in economic policy, leading to a surge in optimism among small business owners,” said Bill Dunkelberg, the group’s chief economist. “Owners are particularly hopeful for tax and regulation policies that favor strong economic growth as well as relief from inflationary pressures. In addition, small business owners are eager to expand their operations.”

Along with the higher reading for the headline index, the share of business owners expecting a better economy ahead jumped 41 points from October to a net 36%, the highest since June 2020.

— Jeff Cox

Fears surrounding aluminum packaging company Ball are overstated, according to Mizuho, which believes investors should buy the recent pullback in shares.

The firm upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral and maintained its $67 price target, which is 16% above where shares closed on Monday.

“Despite recent misplaced concerns about pricing and volume, we don’t believe earnings are at risk, or that fundamentals have changed. We believe the recent pullback in the shares represents a good buying opportunity and an attractive entry point,” analyst Edlain Rodriguez wrote in a Tuesday note.

The company shut down around 15% of its manufacturing capacity to account for lower consumer demand post-pandemic.

“That capacity closure has better positioned Ball for the medium-term as demand gradually normalizes,” Rodriguez said.

— Hakyung Kim

Nvidia shares were down slightly a day after the chipmaker pulled back on China launching an investigation into the company possibly violating the country’s antimonopoly law.

The stock was last down 0.3% in the premarket. On Monday, it fell 2.6%, leading to Nvidia’s longest losing streak since September.

— Fred Imbert

Citi believes Broadcom‘s fiscal fourth-quarter results will top expectations ahead of the company’s earnings release on Thursday.

Analyst Christopher Danely raised his price target on shares to $205 from $175, implying 14.6% upside potential from Monday’s close. Danely also reiterated his buy rating on the stock.

Danely estimates Broadcom could report up to $15 billion in sales, or a 7% rise from the previous quarter. The company’s non-AI semiconductor business will likely drive its better-than-consensus results, he added.

Current-quarter guidance could be held back on a slowdown in orders from Google, a leading AI customer, Danely said.

“We do expect business to ramp from Meta throughout C25 and pick up the slack,” Danely wrote in a Tuesday note.

— Hakyung Kim

South Korean markets led gains in Asia on Tuesday, with the country’s blue-chip Kospi surging 2.43% and seeing its best day in almost three months, while the small-cap Kosdaq spiked 5.52%.

That comes as the country continues to grapple with the fallout of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration.

Other markets in Asia also climbed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.53% and mainland China’s CSI 300 rising by 0.73%.

— Lim Hui Jie

European stocks opened lower on Tuesday, as investors reacted to Chinese import and export figures that came in below expectations in November.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.25% lower shortly after the opening bell, with all major bourses trading in negative territory.

Read the latest here.

— Chloe Taylor

Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:

• Oracle — Stock in the computer technology company slipped 5% after Oracle slightly missed fiscal second-quarter earnings estimates. The firm reported adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $1.48 in earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue of $14.1 billion matched analysts’ estimates.
• MongoDB — Shares added more than 9% after the database company raised its fourth-quarter forecast. MongoDB now expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of 62 cents to 65 cents, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for 58 cents in earnings per share. The firm also expects revenue in the current quarter of $515 million to $519 million, against a forecast $509 million.
• Vail Resorts — The operator of ski resorts saw shares jump close to 3% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss in the fiscal first quarter. Vail reported an adjusted loss of $4.61 per share on revenue of $260 million. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for a loss of $5.00 per share and revenue of $253 million.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures were little changed on Monday, after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite pulled back from their respective highs.

S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.03%, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.01%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline.

— Brian Evans