LIVE Trump Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent's confirmation hearing Euronext - Delayed Quote • EUR (OA93V.NX) Follow Compare 0.0010 0.0000 (0.00%) As of December 10 at 1:29:42 PM GMT+1. Market Open. Related News Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq edge lower amid earnings rush, Bessent confirmation hearing Investors are looking to more big bank earnings and fresh retail sales data to help keep the rally going. Retail sales, Big Bank earnings, Bessent hearing: 3 Things US stock futures (ES=F, NQ=F, YM=F) pull back from this morning's session highs as Wall Street digests weekly jobs claims data and December's retail sales, which missed estimates of 0.6% and rose by only 0.4% month-over-month. Earnings season keeps on rolling for the financials sector, with major banks Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC) reporting their fourth quarter results Thursday morning. Read up on Big Bank earnings as the industry looks ahead to the incoming Trump administration in the latest Morning Brief column. Lastly, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of the US Department of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, will be heading to Capitol Hill today to face questioning by lawmakers as part of his confirmation hearing. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) has reportedly prepped over 180 questions for Bessent ahead of Bessent's confirmation vote. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan. CPI steady at 2.9%, Fed could pause interest rate hikes The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that December’s CPI remained steady at 2.9% year over year, while core CPI — excluding food and energy — came in at 3.2% annually, which was less than expected. Aditya Bhave, senior US economist at Bank of America (BAC) Securities, joins Market Domination to discuss the impact of this data, noting that while it’s positive, the Federal Reserve "is going to be on hold moving forward." "What this report does, and it is undoubtedly good news ... it trims the tail risks of a hike," Bhave explains. "We have not been in the re-acceleration camp; we've been in the sticky inflation camp." Bhave emphasizes the importance of quarter one data and admits he feels "comfortable" with inflation being stuck around 2.5%, noting that it's where the Fed says "we’ll be at the end of this year as well." Additionally, Bhave notes that he doesn't see interest rate cuts unless inflation decreases faster, particularly in rents and owners' equivalent rent (OER). To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. This post was written by Josh Lynch Why Target Stock Tanked on Thursday Morning Shares of Target (NYSE: TGT) were sliding in Thursday morning trading after the retailer disappointed Wall Street with its updated guidance for fiscal Q4. Finance, Wall Street analysts had, on average, been expecting Target to earn $2.65 per share. This means Target will probably "miss earnings" when its official report comes out in March. U.S. Bancorp Crashes 6.6%--What's Behind the Stock Plunge? Unimpressed earnings, rising costs, and credit concerns send investors running--can the bank bounce back? Morgan Stanley shuffles rating on software Investing.com -- Morgan Stanley analysts revised ratings and price target on software companies, as brokerage see GenAI offering a large opportunity but also posing risks. Atlassian Corp Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM) emerged as a top pick for 2025, while Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) and Confluent faced rating cuts due to near-term challenges. Bank of America Crushes Q4 Earnings -- Investment Banking Fees Skyrocket 44% Record-Breaking Growth Positions BofA for a Massive 2025 Run Symbotic Stock Pops on New Robotics Partnership With Walmart Shares of robotics company Symbotic jumped Thursday morning after the company announced an expanded partnership with Walmart that includes Symbotic buying Walmart's robotics business, and Walmart funding development of new automation programs. Target’s Guidance Hike Fails to Offset Wall Street Concerns (Bloomberg) -- Target Corp. raised its sales guidance following a better-than-expected holiday season, but the boost wasn’t big enough to ease investors’ concerns about profitability.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC, Some Call for More RegulationsChurches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of Endangered MonumentsNYPD Reforms Car Chase Policy Amid Rising Crashe TSMC’s Upbeat Outlook Fuels Hopes for 2025 AI Spending (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. projected quarterly sales and capital expenditure ahead of analysts’ estimates, fueling hopes that spending on AI hardware should remain resilient in 2025.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC, Some Call for More RegulationsChurches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of Endangered MonumentsNYPD Reforms Car Chase 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks With Seemingly Impenetrable Moats That Can Have Their Palantir Moment in 2025 Artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming many industries, but not all tech companies will benefit equally. The competitive moats established by Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) could be significant as AI grows, resulting in impressive gains similar to how AI darling Palantir Technologies has benefited recently. There are no guarantees that these two companies will see their share prices rise by more than 800% like Palantir's have over the past two years, but their competitive positions are certainly setting them up for success. Target shares slide on maintained earnings guidance, possible January deceleration Investing.com -- Target (NYSE:TGT) shares fell more than 3% Thursday as the retailer maintained its fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) guidance. While comparable sales saw an increase, the impact of discounts and promotions appears to have weighed on margins. Symbotic to Acquire Walmart’s Robotics Business. The Stock Charges Higher. Walmart selects Symbotic to develop a solution to automate the retailer’s accelerated pickup and delivery centers. These Stocks Are Moving the Most Today: TSMC, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth, Target, Symbotic, and More Fourth-quarter net profit of Taiwan Semiconductor jumps 57%, UnitedHealth falls after revenue misses estimates, and profits at Bank of America and Morgan Stanley beat analysts’ expectations. Bank of America's Q4 Earnings Beat on Robust IB & Trading, Higher NII A robust IB & trading performance, NII growth and higher loan balance aid BAC's Q4 earnings, while the rise in adjusted expenses and provisions act as spoilsports. Bitcoin Price Closes In on $100,000 Again. How the Crypto Could Get There. Moves in digital coins were largely driven by macroeconomic developments. Coming in cooler than expected, the data looked to increase odds of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates several times this year. Any signs that interest rates are coming down more quickly than previously expected would likely boost Bitcoin prices even further. Bank Of America, Morgan Stanley Trade Near Buy Points After Q4 Beats Bank of America, Morgan Stanley earnings more than double for Q4. BAC stock and MS shares are closing in on buy points. UnitedHealth Patient Care Costs, Revenue Disappoint Street (Bloomberg) -- UnitedHealth Group Inc. shares fell after elevated medical costs persisted in the fourth quarter and revenue missed estimates.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC, Some Call for More RegulationsChurches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of Endangered MonumentsNYPD Reforms Car Chase Policy Amid Rising Crashes, InjuriesThe stock fell as much as 3% at BofA Investment Bankers Boost Earnings as Loan Income Rises (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as investment-banking fees hit the highest in three years and net interest income outperformed forecasts. Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC, Some Call for More RegulationsChurches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of Endangered MonumentsNYPD Reforms Car Chase Poli Symbotic to Buy Walmart’s Advanced Systems and Robotics Unit, Signs Commercial Agreement Technology company Symbotic has struck a deal to expand its partnership with Walmart, taking on a $520 million program to develop an automated delivery platform for Walmart stores while also agreeing to buy the retail giant’s advanced systems and robotics business.