Morning in New York: news will support buyers

Daily review and forecast of events on the U.S. stock market from Mikhail Denislamov, Deputy Director of Freedom Capital Markets Research.

The focus for investors this Tuesday will be on details of the US-India trade agreement revealed by President Donald Trump on Truth Social after the close of trading yesterday. The U.S. leader announced a reduction in so-called retaliatory duties on Indian goods from 25% to 18% in exchange for New Delhi's commitment to stop buying Russian oil, and also announced India's plans to spend more than $500 billion to buy energy, technology and agricultural goods from the United States. The implementation of these agreements could lead to a large-scale reallocation of global trade flows, providing long-term support to the export and energy sectors of the United States.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirmed the postponement of open job openings (JOLTS) and employment report for January, which were to be held on February 3 and 6. In the absence of official statistics, stock exchange players are shifting their focus to corporate reporting and White House initiatives, which can increase the impact of individual news on the dynamics of quotations.

Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), PepsiCo (PEP), Eaton (ETN), PayPal (PYPL), TransDigm (TDG) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) will report quarterly results before the main session opens. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Amgen (AMGN), Lumentum (LITE), Mondelez (MDLZ), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and Chubb (CB) will report at the postmarket.

Futures on US stock indices show predominantly positive dynamics. The balance of risks against the background of the trade agreement with India and optimism about the prospects of the technology sector is shifting towards positive with moderate volatility. We focus on S&P 500 fluctuations in the range of 6940-7025 points (from -0.5% to +0.7% to the previous session's closing level).

- Growing demand for artificial intelligence tools allowed Palantir Technologies (PLTR) to report earnings and revenue that exceeded market expectations. Against this backdrop, the company's shares soared more than 10% before the start of the main session. Management's forecast for 2026 also turned out to be significantly higher than analysts' average guidance. Palantir CEO Alex Karp called the current results the best in the technology sector over the past decade.

- A cautious gross margin guideline for NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) for the current quarter, putting the figure at 57%, caused the issuer's stock price to decline by 5% before the opening of trading. Although the actual fourth-quarter earnings and revenue numbers exceeded consensus, investors focused on management's forecasts, which were only in line with average market expectations.

- Teradyne (TER) jumped more than 20% in the premarket after posting a strong quarterly report and an optimistic outlook for January-March that was above consensus due to a recovery in the robotics segment. These benchmarks reassure investors of the favorable outlook for the semiconductor test sector.

- Woodward (WWD) shares are adding about 15% before the start of major trading as the company's financial results beat analysts' forecasts and its full-year earnings guidance was improved on expectations of stronger sales growth in the aviation sector.

- Rambus (RMBS) shares fell by about 15% before the opening of the session after the recent rally. The company's revenue and profit for the last quarter were in line with analysts' expectations, but investors took a very negative view of the lack of new growth drivers in the memory chip maker's forecasts.

Trades on February 2 on American stock exchanges ended on the positive territory. S&P 500 added 0.54%, Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.73%, Dow Jones rose by 1.05%, Russell 2000 - by 1.02%. The industrial sector (XLI: +1.26%) was the leader of growth. The energy sector (XLE: -1.96%) was the outsider due to the decline in oil prices amid reports of talks between the US and Iran promising de-escalation.

Shares of the "Magnificent Seven" traded mixed. Nvidia (NVDA: -2.89%) was under the greatest pressure as its CEO Jensen Huang cooled market expectations regarding the scale of investments in OpenAI. Reports of a revised plan to invest $100 billion in the company were seen as a negative signal, despite the confirmation of its intention to participate in a capital raise for a smaller amount.

The main driver of growth was the publication of the ISM manufacturing PMI (PMI Manufacturing), which in January reached 52.6 points with a consensus of 52, entering the expansion zone for the first time since August 2022. The sharp jump in the new orders component was a particularly positive signal. These data serve as evidence of the resilience of the US economy and confirm the "soft landing" scenario. At the same time, against this background, the forecast of the Fed rate cut by the end of the year was revised from 52 to 47 bp, which was reflected in the growth of short-term government bond yields.

- Peakstone Realty Trust (PKST: +33.1%) will be taken over by Brookfield Asset Management for $1.2 billion in cash, which includes a 34% premium to the Jan. 30 closing price.

- Hain Celestial (HAIN: +2.5%) is selling its North American snack foods division for $115 million as part of a portfolio optimization strategy.

- CEO Michael Walrath has withdrawn his bid for shares of Yext (YEXT: -23.7%). Instead, the company announced plans to conduct a $150 million buyback.

- Walt Disney (DIS: -7.4%) reported stronger-than-forecast revenue and earnings for the most recent quarter thanks to strong theme park revenues, while management said visitor growth was slowing and the media segment was struggling.

- Devon Energy (DVN) and Coterra Energy (CTRA: -3.6%) are planning a merger that should result in a company with a capitalization of about $58 billion.

- Revvity 's quarterly earnings (RVTY: -1.6%) beat average expectations, including tax factors, revenue matched preliminary estimates, and profitability and organic growth in its key Life Sciences segment came in below consensus.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor