Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 7, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks rose Monday as major tech names outperformed to start the week, while traders looked past the latest U.S. tariff threat from President Donald Trump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 126 points higher, or 0.3%, led by a roughly 4% gain in McDonald’s. The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1%.
The market remains jittery on a mix of inflation worry coupled with concern over how Trump’s plan for tariffs could adversely affect the U.S. economy.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he’s planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday. Trump did not specify when the tariffs would be imposed and noted that he would also issue retaliatory tariffs on countries that tax U.S. imports. The news comes as Trump’s previously announced duties on China are set to go into effect at midnight on Sunday.
Steel and aluminum stocks popped. U.S. Steel and Nucor were up more than 3% and 5%, respectively. Cleveland-Cliffs climbed 11%, and Alcoa traded 3.3% higher.
Shares of chipmakers also traded higher as sentiment appeared to improve after the late January sell-off in technology stocks, fueled by the concerns around the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Nvidia gained 3.8%, while Broadcom and Micron each rose more than 3%. Megacap tech names Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft were also each higher by more than 1%.
“The volatility around DeepSeek and concerns over tariffs do not derail our positive outlook on risk assets, especially in the U.S. Over the short term, we expect lingering volatility on tariff headlines and potential April bill passage in the U.S., but we keep 6,500 as S&P 500 year-end target,” JPMorgan analyst Fabio Bassi said in a note to clients.
The threat of more tariffs comes ahead of a slew of economic data this week. The January consumer price index report is due out Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by initial weekly jobless claims and the producer price index on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will also speak before Congress on Tuesday morning.
Correction: A previous version misstated when Powell is scheduled to speak.
Stocks making the biggest midday moves: McDonald’s, GameStop and more
Rockwell Automation on pace for best day since March 2020
Rockwell Automation shares rose nearly 13% on Monday, leading the S&P 500 higher and putting the stock on track to close with its largest single-day percentage increase since March 24, 2020, when it gained 17.6%.
The gain comes after the company reported an earnings beat for its fiscal first quarter. Rockwell posted adjusted earnings of $1.83 per share for the period, above the $1.58 per share that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Revenue, meanwhile, came in line with expectations at $1.88 billion. Rockwell also said orders were up around 10% compared to the year-ago period.
“While there is still some macroeconomic and policy uncertainty weighing on customers’ capex plans, Rockwell won multi-million dollar strategic orders across key industries, especially in the U.S., our home market,” said Blake Moret, the company’s CEO, in a statement.
ROK, 1-day
— Sean Conlon
McDonald’s sees biggest drop in U.S. sales in almost a decade, excluding the pandemic
October’s E. coli outbreak drove sluggish McDonald’s fourth-quarter sales in the U.S. But Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden told analysts on the company’s earnings call that traffic improved as the quarter progressed, and CEO Chris Kempczinski said he expects performance will fully recover by the beginning of the second quarter in April.
Lower average checks pushed down McDonald’s domestic same-store sales by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, steeper than analysts’ estimates for a 0.6% decline and the biggest drop since the 8.7% plunge during the second quarter of 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Excluding the pandemic, it was the largest slump in U.S. same-store sales in nearly a decade, since McDonald’s saw a 2.0% decline in the second quarter of 2015, according to FactSet data.
Borden acknowledged that, “pressure on spending persists, in particular, with two significant cohorts of our consumer base — low income and families.” As price-conscious consumers have cut back on spending in recent months, fast-food chains across the industry have resorted to promotions and deals to lure in guests.
Kempczinski is adamant that McDonald’s promotional activity is working. “If you look at the $5 meal deal, even though that’s compelling value, it’s driving other purchases. So the average check on $5 meal deal for us in the U.S. is north of $10,” he told analysts Monday. McDonald’s shares rose as much as 5.4% in early trading Monday and are about 3% below October’s all-time high.
— Robert Hum
Inflation outlook held steady in January, New York Fed survey shows
Customers shop for food at a grocery store in Chicago on Jan. 15, 2025.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Consumer inflation expectations were little changed in January, according to a New York Federal Reserve survey released Monday that counters other recent indicators.
Respondents to the monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations expect inflation a year from now to run at a 3% rate, unchanged from December. The same level prevailed on the three-year horizon, though the five-year outlook rose, also to 3% on a 0.3 percentage-point gain.
However, the survey also showed sizeable gains in the one-year outlook for increases in food and gas (up 0.6 percentage points each from December to 2.6% and 4.6%, respectively) as well as medical care (up 1 percentage point to 6.8%) and rent (up 0.5 percentage points to 6%).
The New York Fed report comes after a University of Michigan survey released Friday showed the one-year inflation outlook surging to 4.3%, a jump of 1 percentage point.
— Jeff Cox
China internet stocks rise
The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF jumped 3% Monday after China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including crude oil, natural gas and agricultural machinery, took effect.
This comes after President Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods on Feb. 4.
KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF
— Hakyung Kim
Stocks open higher ahead of key economic data
BP, Tesla among the stocks making moves before the bell
Check out the stocks making moves in the premarket on Monday:
- BP — Shares were higher by more than 6% after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Elliott Management has taken a stake in the British oil giant. According to the report, Elliott will push for changes to improve BP’s performance.
- Steel and aluminum stocks — Shares of companies linked to steel and aluminum rose after President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he plans to announce 25% tariffs on the metals on Monday. Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor gained around 7%, while fellow steel producers Steel Dynamics and U.S. Steel advanced more than 5% and 4%, respectively. Meanwhile, aluminum company Alcoa climbed more than 5%.
- Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle maker dropped more than 1% Monday before the bell. Stifel lowered its price target on the stock, citing mixed fourth-quarter results and pricing concerns. This came following the stock’s decline of more than 3% on Friday.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
McDonald’s reports mixed fourth-quarter results, but shares rise
An advertisement outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on Feb. 2, 2025.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images
McDonald’s shares were up 1% in the premarket even after the fast-food giant reported mixed fourth-quarter results.
The company earned an adjusted $2.83 per share, matching an LSEG estimate. Revenue, meanwhile, came in at $6.39 billion, slightly below a consensus forecast of $6.44 billion. McDonald’s sales were hurt in U.S. restaurants following an E. coli outbreak.
— Fred Imbert
Benchmark upgrades Shopify ahead of earnings
Benchmark told investors to expect good news from Shopify when it reports earnings on Tuesday.
Analyst Mark Zgutowicz upgraded the commerce stock to buy from hold and instituted a $150 price target. With that, Zgutowicz anticipates shares will jump 27.8% over Friday’s close.
“Once again, we expect comfortable upside to reported and guided [gross merchandise value] tomorrow morning … however, with more enterprise and Plus-driven upside to [monthly recurring revenue] and GMV than witnessed historically,” Zgutowicz wrote to clients in a Monday note.
Shares popped 2.9% before the bell on Monday. The stock has climbed more than 10% in 2025, on pace to record its third winning year in a row.
— Alex Harring
BP jumps on report of Elliott Management stake
A general view of the BP logo and petrol station forecourt sign in Southend, United Kingdom, on Jan. 22, 2024.
John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BP shares were higher by more than 6% after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Elliott Management has taken a stake in the British oil giant.
According to the report, Elliott will push for changes to improve BP’s performance. The stock has fallen more than 11% over the past year. It is up 9.2% so far in 2025.
BP 1-yr chart
— Fred Imbert
Stifel cuts Tesla price target
Miguel Castillo plugs in his car to be recharged at a Tesla Supercharger station at the corner of 14th St. and Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica on April 17, 2024.
Genaro Molina | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Stifel sees less room for Tesla shares to run.
Analyst Stephen Gengaro cut his price target by $18 to $474, which now reflects the potential for 31.1% upside. Despite the cut, Gengaro has a buy rating on the electric vehicle maker.
The call follows “mixed [fourth-quarter earnings] results, uncertainty caused by the Trump Administration, and TSLA’s low favorability ratings,” he told clients.
Gengaro listed a strong outlook for energy storage and expectations for a new lower-priced vehicle in the first half of this year among the reasons to be optimistic on the company. On the other hand, he pointed to continued pricing headwinds and “stiff” competition from China as grounds for concern.
Tesla shares slid 1.3% before the bell on Monday. The stock has dropped 10.5% in 2025, pulling back after soaring more than 62% in the previous year.
— Alex Harring
Asia-Pacific markets mixed in choppy trade as tariff threats keep investors on edge
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Monday as escalating trade tensions kept investors on edge.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day flat at 38,801.17, while the broader Topix index edged down 0.15% to close at 2,733.01. The country reported loan growth of 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December’s 3.1%.
South Korea’s Kospi closed flat at 2,521.27, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.91% to 749.67.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 Index changed course from losses earlier in the day to close up 0.21% at 3,901.06, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index had climbed 1.76% in the last hour of trade.
Indian stocks extended the previous session’s losses to open lower. The benchmark Nifty 50 was down 0.91%, while the BSE Sensex index fell 0.87% at 1.30 p.m. local time.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index hit an all-time high of 3,910.12 points early in the trading day LSEG data showed. The STI benchmark was trading up 0.53% in the last hour of trade.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.34% lower at 8,482.80.
— Amala Balakrishner
Some of the key data this week includes two readings on inflation
Economic data due out this week will be top of mind for investors, including fresh inflation readings.
Here’s what Wall Street will be on the lookout for this week:
- The January consumer price index report on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
- January’s producer price index reading on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
- Initial jobless claims for the week ending Feb.8 on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
— Brian Evans
Stock futures slip
Stock futures were lower on Sunday, as the threat of fresh tariffs from President Donald Trump weighed on market sentiment ahead of a key slate of economic data due out this week.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial Average fell 33 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.2% lower.
— Brian Evans