Dow Jones Today | US stock market Highlights: Dow ends 238 points higher, S&P 500 makes solid gains amid easing oil jitters

Consumer discretionary stocks pace for best day since Oct. 31
Consumer discretionary stocks popped 2% on Wednesday, putting the sector on pace for its best day since Oct. 31, when it popped nearly 4.1%.

The sector was led higher by Ross Stores, which advanced about 7% and was the sector’s best performer. Expedia Group rose 3%, while Amazon, Airbnb,
Booking Holdings and Tesla all added 3%.

Old guard tech stock Oracle was a new March addition to Mizuho’s top picks list, which reflects its US analyst’s highest conviction, catalyst-driven ideas.

Analyst Siti Panigrahi currently has an outperform rating and $400 price target on the stock, implying upside of 168% from Oracle’s Tuesday close of $149.01. Shares of Oracle have slipped 22% this year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s recent $30 billion investment in OpenAI “might be the last time” it invests in the artificial intelligence startup before it could go public toward the end of the year.

Huang said the opportunity to invest $100 billion in OpenAI, which was the figure that the two companies touted as part of a massive infrastructure deal in September, is probably “not in the cards.”

Laser manufacturer nLIGHT is a “One of One Company,” says Baird.

The investment firm gave nLIGHT an outperform rating and set a price target of $95. This implies upsides of 38%.

NLIGHT has over 450 patents for everything from semiconductor chips to high-power lasers. Analyst Peter Arment thinks the company get a boost “as market tailwinds and robust funding positions support favorable growth which is further enhanced by [the company’s] vertical integration and technology stock.”

Shares were up 6% as the stock reached a 52-week high.

The US economy grew at a “slight to moderate” price over the past seven weeks while many areas have seen price increases related to tariffs, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest economic check-up.

In the central bank’s periodic Beige Book, businesses reported that prices rose “moderately,” with three-quarters of the Fed’s 12 districts reporting a contribution from tariffs.

On the labor market, the report noted that employment looked “relatively stable” with more than half the districts reporting no change in hiring.

Moderna shares headed for their best day since January after resolving patent litigation.

The drugmaker on Tuesday announced an agreement with Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences that resolved all of their litigation globally. Shares jumped more than 15% in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Wednesday’s rally drove the stock up more than 95% in 2026, putting it on track to snap a four-year losing streak.

Leavitt was asked about reports that Trump had a conversation with Kurdish leaders in Iraq and has sought military support for Iranian Kurdish groups.

“He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq. But as for any report suggesting that the president has agreed to any such plan is completely false and should not be written,” Leavitt said.

Brown-Forman fell more than 6% on margin pressure concerns, Abercrombie & Fitch dropped over 4% on weak guidance, and GitLab slid 8% after issuing softer-than-expected fiscal 2027 outlook.

CNBC

CoreWeave surged 8% after signing a multiyear deal with Perplexity to power AI workloads, while Broadcom rose 2% ahead of earnings. Dow Inc gained 4% after a KeyBanc upgrade citing higher oil prices benefiting US ethylene producers. KKR added 3% after co-CEOs Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae disclosed $8.8 million in share purchases.

Moderna jumped 12% after agreeing to pay up to $2.25 billion to settle a Covid vaccine patent lawsuit. Ross Stores climbed 7% on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and CrowdStrike rose 3% on upbeat forward guidance.

Coinbase rallied 15% after President Donald Trump signaled support for a digital asset market structure bill. Box advanced over 8% on earnings and revenue beat with strong guidance.

On the downside, Brown-Forman fell more than 6% on margin pressure concerns, Abercrombie & Fitch dropped over 4% on weak guidance, and GitLab slid 8% after issuing softer-than-expected fiscal 2027 outlook.

CNBC

Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 3% in afternoon trading after Bank of America reinstated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a bullish outlook on EV maker’s robotaxi and autonomous initiatives.

In a long and wide-ranging note, analyst Alexander Perry gave Tesla a $460 price target, based on the investment bank’s sum-of-the-parts analysis. Perry picked up Tesla and BofA’s auto coverage after longtime analyst John Murphy left the firm.

“We view [Tesla] as the current leader in consumer autonomy,” Perry wrote. “We expect TSLA to quickly become a leader in robotaxi services, given its ability to scale more profitably than competitors.”

Perry predicts autonomous vehicles and robotaxis will usher in the next era of mobility and be the “most significant change agent” in the Auto 2.0 landscape, with Tesla at the forefront.

Yahoo Finance

President Donald Trump on Wednesday officially nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Warsh, if confirmed by the Senate, would replace Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, for a four-year term.

Trump’s nomination was transmitted to the Senate, the White House said in a statement posted online on Wednesday.

That transmittal came more than a month after Trump first publicly announced he wanted Warsh as the Fed chairman.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves backtracked on plans to scrap a controversial windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas, after prices spiked because of the conflict in Iran.

Reeves had been planning this week to announce an early end to the tax, which is due to finish in March 2030, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity about unannounced plans. However, rising prices forced her to put that plan on ice,” the person said.

Bayer AG said a US judge granted preliminary approval for its $7.25 billion settlement proposal aimed at containing its liability from thousands of lawsuits over Roundup weedkiller, which have weighed on the German company for years.

The class-action settlement, which Bayer proposed in February, is a key part of the company’s plans to cap its obligations by resolving current and future damage claims, with funding running for up to 21 years. Former users of Roundup blame the herbicide for their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an allegation Bayer denies.

US-listed chemicals stocks are likely to benefit from tighter supply and higher prices fueled by the war with Iran, according to analysts.

Prices for Brent crude have surged by 14% over the past five days, driven by disruptions to Iran’s oil production and the critical transit route through the Strait of Hormuz. That’s helped boost the shares of petrochemical stocks like Dow Inc. and LyondellBasell Industries NV.

LyondellBasell shares gained as much as 5.6% on Wednesday, rising to their highest price since July, while Dow shares rose by as much as 4.3% and the S&P 500 Chemicals Index rose as much as 0.6%.

Investors kept putting money into exchange-traded funds that invest in emerging-markets this week, even as markets convulsed, indicating confidence that the war in the Middle East won’t roil risk assets for long.

Money managers injected over $600 million of fresh cash into developing-world ETFs on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg — a day that saw the MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index slump by the most since April and currencies tumble against the surging dollar.

Leading flows were the iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF, or EMB, which had its largest inflow since December 2023.

Bitcoin surged past $73,000 as cryptocurrency markets built on recent resilience, drawing momentum from ETF inflows and rising open interest even as Wall Street steadied itself against an unresolved Middle East conflict. The largest cryptocurrency rallied as much as 8% to surpass the $73,000 mark, hitting its highest value in nearly a month. Ether also surged up as much as 9% to more than $2,100.

Stocks rose, and oil steadied as signs that the conflict in Iran may be shorter-lived than feared lifted sentiment. Bitcoin, which fell to around $63,000 after Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has rebounded, with US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulling in more than $680 million over the past two days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Top defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX Corp. are set to meet at the White House as the Pentagon pushes to speed weapons production for an escalating war on Iran. The Friday meeting with executives was confirmed by a White House official. Reuters reported earlier on the meeting.

President Donald Trump and his Pentagon have long pressured US defense primes to step up production, accusing them of focusing too much on shareholder rewards like buybacks or dividends rather than research and development. As the war on Iran entered its fifth day with pledges from all sides to keep up attacks, US stockpiles of its most expensive weapons are being depleted.

Shares of the “Magnificent Seven” were all higher in late morning trading Wednesday.

Leading the way were Tesla and Amazon, both up more than 3%. Tesla’s jump came after an upgrade by Bank of America, declaring its robotaxi services could propel the company’s growth.

The two were followed by gains in Meta and Nvidia, which rose more than 2% and more than 1%, respectively. Shares of Apple and Microsoft only marginally advanced, both up just around 0.2%.

As US stock investors endure bouts of volatility in the wake of the US war on Iran, Citadel Securities’ Scott Rubner said his fundamental analysis of the market signals now is a time to turn bullish on equities.

Rubner, who studies positioning and the flow of funds, said washed-out sentiment, supportive seasonality and resilient retail flows have set the stage for a rebound after weeks of choppy trading.

Bloomberg

European gas’s biggest rally in four years came to an abrupt halt as traders weighed US moves in the Middle East that could potentially ease pressure on the market. Benchmark futures dropped as much as 16%, though they subsequently clawed back some of the loss. Prices are still up more than 50% since the US and Israel started bombing Iran over the weekend.

An American plan to protect tanker shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz has somewhat calmed nerves, while a New York Times report that Iran made indirect contact with the US to negotiate an end to the war raised hopes of an off-ramp. Yet Iran denied that its intelligence ministry had reached out, and skepticism persists that either side is ready to back down.

Oil producers across the Middle East face a tense countdown as the Iran war blocks the region’s main export artery, filling the countries’ storage tanks and threatening output cuts if the situation persists.

With shipping through the Strait of Hormuz suspended, Persian Gulf countries are having to stockpile the stranded supplies in storage tanks. Iraq — which has limited storage capacity — has been compelled to begin massive production cuts, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. warns that others like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates may need to follow suit within weeks.

Moderna Inc. agreed to pay $950 million to settle litigation related to the delivery technology behind its Covid shot, removing a looming financial risk for the struggling vaccine maker.

The company has settled all litigation worldwide with Arbutus Biopharma Corp. and Genevant Sciences GmbH over its existing and future vaccines, with no future royalties owed.

At issue were claims that Moderna had infringed on patents owned by Genevant and Arbutus related to lipid nanoparticles, or tiny bubbles of fat that Moderna used to deliver its Covid shot inside patients.

The German government has set up a task force to assess whether action may be required to contain fuel-price gains triggered by the Middle East conflict, though it sees no immediate need to intervene.

Stefan Kornelius, chief spokesman for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, told reporters at the regular government news conference Wednesday that authorities are “monitoring the situation” but currently see “no need whatsoever to respond.”

Asked about accusations that gas-station operators and oil companies may be exploiting the Iran crisis, a spokeswoman for the economy and energy ministry said the government had no evidence of such behaviour. She confirmed the establishment of a task force to monitor the situation.

Donald Trump deployed his Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to Venezuela on Wednesday as the president seeks to revive oil and mineral production in the South American country.

Burgum, who leads Trump’s Energy Dominance Council, is expected to meet with officials, including acting President Delcy Rodríguez, along with mining and oil executives during the trip, a White House official said. He’s also expected to unveil an oil deal while in Venezuela, delivering an early affirmation of Trump’s bid to boost crude production in the country, the official said.

The trip to Caracas comes as the US government steps up coordination with Venezuela’s interim government in the wake of the January capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

Jet fuel prices are soaring around the world as oil traders grapple with the fallout of the Iran war, adding to wider concerns about global inflation.

In Europe, they’ve spiked to the highest since 2022 — the year that Russia began its invasion of Ukraine — while prices in the US and Asia hit a more than two-year high, according to figures from General Index. Costs are rallying faster than crude oil, which has risen as the Middle East conflict destabilises energy output and disrupts a crucial shipping route in the region.

US stocks rose on Wednesday (March 4) after a volatile previous session as investors eyed developments in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 180 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 traded up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite moved 0.5% higher.

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said he thinks it’s still appropriate to continue cutting interest rates given that it’s too early to take a stance on the impact of war in the Middle East on the US economy.

“I believe it’s appropriate to continue acting,” Miran said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “Thus far, the evidence from events over the weekend hasn’t led me to change any of my forecasts for the labour market, for inflation.”

The European Union expects that the US won’t increase its universal tariff on the bloc to 15%, even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the higher rate would likely go into effect this week.

The EU received assurances that the US will keep a 10% universal tariff rate in effect for the bloc’s exports, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Spokespeople for the US Trade Representative and the European Commission, which handles trade matters for the EU, declined to comment on the matter.

The European Union expects that the US won’t increase its universal tariff on the bloc to 15%, even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the higher rate would likely go into effect this week.

The EU received assurances that the US will keep a 10% universal tariff rate in effect for the bloc’s exports, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Spokespeople for the US Trade Representative and the European Commission, which handles trade matters for the EU, declined to comment on the matter.