In the ever-fluctuating landscape of financial markets, recent comments from President Donald Trump regarding tariffs have left investors navigating a complex terrain.
As Dow futures remain flat in response to these developments, the technology sector shows resilience, with Nasdaq futures gaining momentum, particularly driven by the performance of tech giant Nvidia.
Recommended:
Luke Lango just launched his powerful new research service called Auspex Trader. It’s built around a powerful new stock screener designed to find gains like 117%, 65% and 167% in only 30 days. And you can become a charter member for 70% off and test drive it for 90 days.
Dow futures show stability following tariff remarks by Trump, while Nasdaq futures rise due to Nvidia’s performance
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered close to even on Thursday following President Donald Trump’s announcement that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would proceed as scheduled, with an additional tariff imposed on China.
The losses were mitigated by a rise in Nvidia shares after the company reported quarterly results that surpassed expectations.
Dow futures ticked up by 11 points, or 0.03%, after experiencing a positive trend throughout much of the overnight trading session. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures increased by 0.8%, driven by Nvidia’s performance.
Trump shared on Truth Social that the planned 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada would begin on March 4 due to insufficient action from these countries in reducing drug trafficking across the border. He also indicated that a new 10% tariff on China would be added to the existing 10% levy.
Nvidia’s stock climbed 1.8% after the tech firm exceeded fourth-quarter expectations in both revenue and profit, alleviating some anxieties regarding potential issues within the AI sector. The company provided optimistic guidance, reflecting sustained demand spurred by advancements in artificial intelligence.
Other technology stocks also rose on Thursday following Nvidia’s impressive report, with Broadcom and Tesla each climbing approximately 2.3%.
“While revenue growth has slowed, Nvidia’s year-on-year rise of 78% is remarkable given its size and illustrates robust demand for AI infrastructure,” remarked Ido Caspi, a research analyst at Global X. “This strong performance should help ease investor fears regarding possible challenges from emerging competitors like DeepSeek.”
In addition to Trump’s tariff announcement, an increase in jobless claims contributed to cautious market sentiment, highlighting concerns about slowing economic activity. Jobless claims for the week ending February 22 reached 242,000, up 22,000 from the previous week’s adjusted numbers and above the Dow Jones estimate of 225,000 per a report from the Labor Department on Thursday.
This follows several other recent economic indicators — including a weaker-than-expected consumer confidence index, disappointing retail sales, and a low consumer sentiment reading — triggering volatility in stock markets and intensifying worries over the U.S. economy’s stability.
Traders are now anticipating Friday’s personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slightly surpassed the flatline, breaking its four-day losing streak. The Dow dropped 188 points, approximately 0.4%, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 0.3%. With only two trading days left in February, all three major indices are on track for monthly declines, with the broad market index down 1.4%, and both the Dow and Nasdaq falling over 2%.
Nvidia’s automotive sector experiences a significant increase in revenue, reaching an all-time high due to the rising demand for driver-assist technology
U.S. semiconductor firm Nvidia has seen its automotive segment revenue more than double in the most recent quarter, reaching an all-time high due to robust interest in driver-assist software.
Although the company’s primary revenue generator remains the chip systems that drive artificial intelligence, Nvidia envisions that its driver-assist technology could evolve into its next “billion-dollar” venture.
Automotive and robotics revenue surged 103% year-over-year to $570 million in the fourth quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, bringing the segment’s total for the fiscal year to $1.69 billion, exceeding $1 billion for the second consecutive year.
The latest revenue growth was attributed to sales of Nvidia’s self-driving platforms, the company’s CFO noted.
“This increase underscores Nvidia’s expanding role in supporting ADAS, autonomous vehicles, and robotics through its DRIVE platform and associated technologies,” said Brady Wang, a semiconductor analyst at Counterpoint Research, in an email.
During Nvidia’s earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang stated that he anticipates “every single one” of the billion cars currently on the roads will transition into robotic vehicles that gather data, which Nvidia-powered AI systems can optimize, according to a FactSet transcript.
The automotive and robotics segment is “poised for a significant leap,” due to investments in autonomous driving by companies such as Waymo and Tesla, noted Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, in an email. Munster also estimated that about 15 firms are developing humanoid robots, which may increase the demand for Nvidia’s chips.
“The performance of this segment is an essential story that is being overlooked due to its smaller size,” he added, “but it has the potential to contribute significantly more to revenue in the future.”
The automotive and robotics division currently represents 1.45% of Nvidia’s total revenue.
Wang from Counterpoint anticipates that this growth trajectory will persist with Nvidia’s broader adoption of L2+ and advanced systems.
Numerous Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, including BYD, Nio, and Zeekr, utilize Nvidia’s driver-assist chip technologies.
“In addition to self-driving vehicles, I also foresee that robotics and physical AI will experience substantial interest,” Wang remarked, “followed by genuine applications in the years ahead, fostering lasting growth in this domain.”
Recommended:
Claim Marc Chaikin’s Top 10 Stocks for 2025
When this 50-year Wall Street legend releases his “Top Stocks” list for the year ahead, experienced readers drop what they’re doing and go grab a pen and paper. Marc Chaikin’s stock system would’ve helped you identify 44 of the top 50 stocks last year. In 2023, it flashed “bullish” on 44 of the top 50. Today, he wants to hand you two tickers for free.
Investors are anticipating additional economic data and evaluating the most recent tariff warnings, consequently leading to an increase in Treasury yields
U.S. Treasury yields increased on Thursday as investors prepared for upcoming economic reports and processed President Donald Trump’s recent tariff announcements.
At 6:21 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed more than 5 basis points to 4.31%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was up over four basis points at 4.113%.
This week has been packed with data releases, including housing statistics and the consumer confidence index.
Durable goods orders data for January is set to be unveiled at 8:30 a.m. ET, alongside the GDP growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2024. This GDP figure will provide critical insights into the overall strength of the U.S. economy and its growth rate from the prior quarter.
Attention will be centered on the key release of the week — the personal consumption expenditures index scheduled for Friday morning. The PCE is the preferred inflation measure of the Federal Reserve.
The Fed’s upcoming meeting to discuss monetary policy and interest rates is scheduled for March 18-19.
Additionally, investors are concerned about President Trump’s latest tariff threat, which he announced during his first Cabinet meeting of his second term. He stated plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the European Union, with duties on Canada and Mexico expected to take effect starting April 2.
Rolls-Royce, the British aerospace company, reached a record high in stock value due to positive forecasts and exceeding profit expectations
British aerospace firm Rolls-Royce announced on Thursday that it achieved full-year earnings that surpassed expectations, raised its mid-term forecast, and unveiled a £1 billion ($1.27 billion) share buyback.
Rolls-Royce, recognized for producing jet engines for commercial aviation and power systems for naval vessels and submarines, achieved an operating profit of £2.46 billion for 2024, exceeding analysts’ predictions and marking a 57% rise from the previous year.
The company noted that strong deliveries in 2023 and 2024 allowed it to meet mid-term objectives two years ahead of schedule. It now anticipates operating profits to rise to between £3.6 billion and £3.9 billion in the mid-term.
In addition, Rolls-Royce declared a dividend of 6 pence per share, marking the return of dividends after a five-year hiatus, and stated that the £1 billion share buyback would be executed throughout 2025.
Citi analysts characterized the full-year performance as “very strong.”
Following the announcement, Rolls-Royce shares jumped as much as 19.4%, reaching a new all-time high and leading the pan-European Stoxx 600 index.
The co-founder of Reddit describes Meta’s decision to cease third-party fact-checking as a highly practical move
Reddit’s co-founder has commented on Meta’s decision to discontinue third-party fact-checking, labeling it a “practical” choice and viewing it as a retreat from a program that was not working effectively.
In January, just days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term as U.S. president, Meta revealed it would halt its third-party fact-checking initiative, which had faced widespread criticism from Trump and conservatives who argued it disproportionately affected right-leaning content.
As part of significant policy shifts at the tech giant, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated he would implement a community-focused system in its place.
“It was a very practical decision,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian conveyed to CNBC during the Web Summit in Qatar on Sunday, noting, “it is nearly impossible to manage fact-checking at scale, especially in real time, as Facebook attempted.”
“In many respects, I believe they were just retracting what was fundamentally a flawed idea from the beginning because it was unworkable,” Ohanian further stated.
Meta introduced its global fact-checking initiative in 2016 to combat misinformation and has collaborated with fact-checking entities in over 100 nations. According to the company, the rollback will kick off in the U.S., but will not immediately affect other regions.
