S&P 500 closes at record high

U.S. stock futures changed a little early Wednesday after the S&P 500 hit a record high in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite futures pulled back 0.06%. The S&P 500 futures added about 0.02%.

Stock Market LIVE: Sensex rebounds over 600 pts from day's low, Nifty reclaims 23000; bank, metal lead gainshttps://t.co/OerhFpKzsO

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) February 19, 2025

  Then the S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high, closing at 6,129.58, despite concerns about persistent inflation and President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade policies. Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, noted that the stock market’s resilience has been impressive year-to-date as investors refuse to back down amid rising negative sentiment and concerns about tariffs and inflation headlines.

Stocks To Watch | 📊Ready, set, trade! Keep an eye on these stocks as they set the market abuzz #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/SLu4cJmOV7

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) February 19, 2025

 Trump announced potential tariffs on imported autos, chips, and pharmaceuticals, suggesting they could be implemented as soon as April 2. The specifics of these duties, whether they would be targeted or broad, were not clarified. Investors will review the January housing starts report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET and the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes are set for release at 2 p.m. ET.

And with that we have the 2nd all-time high of 2025 for the S&P 500.

Since 1957 (when it become 500 stocks) this is 1,243 ATHs out of 17,176 trading days.

In other words, a new ATH happens about once every 3 wks.

New highs happen, congrats to the investors who remembered. pic.twitter.com/D30va9bi5Y

— Ryan Detrick, CMT (@RyanDetrick) February 18, 2025

 

Market trends remain resilient

The Fed recently kept rates unchanged but expressed concern over the U.S. inflation outlook. In premarket trading, Nikola’s shares were halted after the struggling electric truck maker failed to secure a buyer or additional funds. The stock, which has plummeted more than 95% over the last 12 months, was trading at just under $1.

Energy led today, followed by Materials (which is now in first place YTD); Comm Serv was main drag on S&P 500, but Cons Discr also fell (still up most MTD, though) … at index level, Russell 1000 Value outperformed and continues to hold top spot YTD pic.twitter.com/kr1SaoPavH

— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) February 18, 2025

 

Discover Financial acquired Capital One

Other notable premarket movers include Capital One, which gained 1.6% following news of its acquisition of Discover Financial Services, and Toll Brothers, which fell more than 5% after reporting fiscal first-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Bumble shares tumbled 16.8% after issuing weaker-than-expected first-quarter guidance. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Travelers, with analyst Meyer Shields raising the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘market perform’ and hiking the price target by $11 to $286, implying nearly 20% upside. Bank of America upgraded Capital One to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral,’ with analyst Mihir Bhatia increasing the price target by $28 to $235, reflecting a 15.9% potential upside. Asia-Pacific markets had mixed reactions Wednesday after President Donald Trump proposed tariffs on auto, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.27% lower at 39,165.