Wall Street pointed toward gains before the opening bell Tuesday as earnings season winds down during a holiday-shortened trading week.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 0.3%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%.
Southwest Airlines rose 1.9% after the carrier announced that it was eliminating 1,750 jobs, with the focus on corporate offices. Southwest, which has been under pressure from hedge fund Elliott Investment Management to increase profits and boost the stock price, estimated that the job cuts will save the company more than $500 million combined through this year and next.
Chipmaker Intel jumped 5.1% in premarket on media reports that rivals Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor were looking into acquiring separate divisions of the California company. Broadcom is interested in Intel’s chip-design and marketing business, while Taiwan Semiconductor is eyeing control of some or all of Intel’s chip plants, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Constellation Brands soared 6.9% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took a more than 3% stake in the New York beverage company. Constellation, whose shares had been down more than 25% this year with President Donald Trump's tariffs looming, is particularly sensitive to trade issues. It owns the exclusive rights to import Corona and Modelo brand beer to the U.S. from Mexico.
Packaged food giant Conagra tumbled 5.1% after it trimmed its profit guidance due to supply constraints involving problems with frozen chicken and vegetable production.
Coming later this week are the latest earnings from Walmart, considered a bellwether for the retail sector and consumer spending in general.
Chinese technology stocks surged after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with entrepreneurs this week in what is seen as a show of support to the technology industry.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.59% to 22,976.81, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.93% to 3,324.49. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.25% to 39,270.40 after Japan's economic growth for the fourth quarter beat forecasts. In other regional markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.66% to 8,481.00. while South Korea's Kospi was up 0.63% to 2,626.81.
China's technology stocks rallied Tuesday. E-commerce firm Alibaba gained nearly 3% and smartphone maker Xiaomi saw its stock price surge over 6%, while video games firm Tencent and online services company Meituan also gained.
Xi's meeting with entrepreneurs Monday, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, is a signal of assurance and stability after a crackdown on the technology industry in recent years.
“The optics of Xi’s rare sit-down with tech executives are impossible to ignore. This isn’t just another policy meeting — it’s a calculated move, reflecting Beijing’s growing concerns over economic momentum and China’s position in the global tech race,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management in a note.
“For investors, the takeaway is clear: China’s leadership is throwing its weight behind tech once again. Whether this translates into long-term policy shifts or is just a short-term confidence play remains to be seen,” he said.
Eyes are on whether China and Hong Kong’s stock markets will continue on a bull run, with Chinese stocks outperforming Japan, U.S. and India markets so far this year.
According to a report by BofA Securities, key drivers for the Chinese stock market include a better-than-expected U.S.-China relationship, with Trump only imposing 10% additional tariffs so far, as well as the emergence of DeepSeek as a rival to leading U.S. artificial intelligence models.
Markets around the world are nervously watching what upward pressure may come from tariffs that Trump has announced recently. But analysts now think Trump may ultimately avoid triggering a punishing global trade war.
His most recent tariff announcement will not take full effect for at least several weeks, raising hopes that there is still time for countries to negotiate with Washington.
At midday in Europe, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.3%, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% and Britain’s FTSE 100 ticked up just 0.1%.
Benchmark U.S. crude added 35 cents to $71.06 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, retreated 17 cents to $75.05 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar strengthened to 151.67 Japanese yen from 151.51 yen. The euro cost $1.0453, down from $1.0484.
——
