Stocks Extend Wednesday’s Rally on President Trump’s Greenland Pivot

Economic Indicators - November personal spending is expected to increase by +0.5% month-over-month, while personal income is projected to rise by +0.4% month-over-month [1] - The November core PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, is anticipated to rise by +0.2% month-over-month and +2.8% year-over-year [1] - The January S&P US manufacturing PMI is expected to increase by +0.2 to 52.0, and the final University of Michigan January US consumer sentiment index is expected to remain unchanged at 54.0 [1] Natural Gas Market - Natural gas prices have surged more than +60% this week, reaching a three-year high, driven by an Arctic cold front that is expected to increase heating demand [3] - Prices rose more than +8% today, boosting stocks of natural gas producers [3] Stock Market Performance - Stocks are maintaining gains due to better-than-expected US economic news, with weekly initial unemployment claims rising by 1,000 to 200,000, lower than the expected 209,000 [4] - Q3 GDP was revised upward by 0.1 to 4.4% quarter-over-quarter annualized, exceeding expectations of no change [4] - The S&P 500 Index is up +0.78%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index is up +0.96%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index is up +0.83% [6] Earnings Season - The Q4 earnings season has begun positively, with 81% of the 38 S&P 500 companies that have reported beating expectations [7] - S&P earnings growth is expected to rise by +8.4% in Q4, with a +4.6% increase expected when excluding the Magnificent Seven technology stocks [7] Stock Movers - Chip makers and AI-infrastructure stocks are leading the market rally, with ARM Holdings up more than +5% and Microchip Technology up more than +3% [14] - The Magnificent Seven technology stocks are also performing well, with Meta Platforms up more than +3% and Alphabet and Tesla up more than +1% [15] - Northern Trust is up more than +7% after reporting Q4 net interest income of $654.3 million, exceeding the consensus of $604.5 million [15] Company-Specific Developments - Venture Global is up more than +6% after winning a dispute with Repsol SA regarding liquefied natural gas shipments [16] - Datadog is up more than +5% following an upgrade from Stifel, with a new price target of $160 [16] - Abbott Laboratories is down more than -7% after reporting Q4 net sales of $11.46 billion, below the consensus of $11.80 billion [18]