Live Nasdaq Composite: Oil Surges, Stocks Slide in Groundhog Day Trading Session

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates. 

Once again, the markets are retreating amid rising oil prices in yet another groundhog day trading session. The price of Brent Crude has returned to the $100 level after easing to below $90/barrel earlier this week. Most recently, a White House official has reportedly indicated that U.S. Navy ships plan to steer clear of the Strait of Hormuz due to the unrest. Iran has reportedly vowed to keep the critical Strait of Hormuz inaccessible. All three of the major stock market averages are steeply lower out of the gate, including a 1.4% drop in the Nasdaq Composite.

Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (Nasdaq: PLTR) , two of the hottest stocks in tech, are teaming up for what they’re calling a “sovereign” AI operating system. Separately, Palantir is also partnering with GE (NYSE: GE) around the industrial giant’s aerospace unit. Palantir stock is tacking on about 1.7%.

U.S. economic data for January showed mixed signals, with last week’s jobless claims coming in slightly better than expected at 213K. In January, housing starts rose 7.2% but building permits fell 5.4% while exports of autos and parts hit their lowest level since 2021, pointing to softness in manufacturing and construction activity.

Here’s a look at where things stand as of morning trading:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 46,913.73 Down 561.91 (-1.19%)
Nasdaq Composite: 22,407 Down 308 (-1.36%)
S&P 500: 6,702 Down 73 (-1.08%)

Market Movers

With the oil price in triple-digit territory, Wells Fargo has upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) to “overweight” from an “underweight” rating with a $69 price target.

Earlier this week, we told you how Uber Technologies (Nasdaq: UBER) was expanding into robotaxis. Now the company is swinging in the other direction, reportedly adding chauffeured rides for business executives.

Card giant Mastercard (NYSE: M) has launched a crypto partner program alongside the likes of digital exchange Binance and cross-border payments company Ripple as well as fintech giant PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) for a blockchain-based global payments initiative.