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postUS stock futures turned higher on Tuesday as a milder inflation reading kept bets that the Fed would hold rates steady intact, while JPMorgan (JPM) results kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) pared losses and floated above the flat line, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) added 0.2%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) rose 0.3%. On Monday, Wall Street stocks eked out fresh record closes as investors largely shrugged off concerns around a US criminal probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
JPMorgan Chase led out this week’s rush of big bank results, posting a quarterly earnings miss amid a $2.2 billion hit to net income from a Apple Card deal. Shares in America’s biggest bank were a touch lower after the report. With earnings season now unofficially underway, Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Morgan Stanley (MS) follow with their own results in coming days.
Markets are now evaluating the latest reading on US consumer inflation, a key input into the Fed’s rate-setting decisions. The December consumer price index is viewed as offering the clearest picture of trends in months after the record government shutdown disrupted data reports.
The CPI report showed inflation pressures remained steady last month, with an annual headline rate of 2.7% and a monthly rate of 0.3%, which were in line with forecasts.
The data takes on added importance after the December jobs report pointed to a cooling labor market. Going into the inflation report, traders saw a 95% chance that the Fed holds rates steady in January, and were pricing in June for the first of two quarter-point cuts in 2026, per the CME FedWatch Tool.
Meanwhile, global central bankers have joined the likes of Janet Yellen and Alan Greenspan in rushing to condemn the Justice Department’s investigation of Powell, seen as a threat to the Fed’s autonomy. Powell, whose term as Fed chair expires in May, characterized the probe as political pressure from President Trump, who has repeatedly called for aggressive interest-rate cuts.
On another front, Trump said late Monday that countries that continue to do business with Iran will face a 25% US tariff. The vow adds another layer of geopolitical uncertainty to a market already grappling with moves on Venezuela and Greenland, and could threaten the US trade truce with China.
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US Bancorp set to acquire BTIG for $1 billion in push into trading market
The parent company of U.S. Bank is set to acquire the brokerage BTIG in a bid to expand the financial services firm’s purview into investments and trading.
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (USB) will acquire BTIG in a transaction valued at $1 billion, the company announced in a press release on Tuesday morning. Shares in U.S. Bancorp lost roughly 0.8% in premarket trading, a typical movement for the acquiring party of an M&A announcement.
U.S. Bancorp’s push into investment banking and trading comes as the trading desks of the country’s biggest banks outperformed expectations in the third quarter.
Revenues from equities, fixed income, currency, and commodity trading at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 15% from the previous year, surpassing analyst expectations, according to earnings released Tuesday morning.
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Inflation eases in December as core consumer prices rise less than forecast in final month of 2025
Inflation pressures slowed in the final month of 2025 as consumer prices rose by less than economists forecast.
Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland reports:
Read more here.
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Jamie Dimon’s hot take on Trump vs. Powell
Here’s what JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said about the Trump vs. Powell battle on a call I was just on:
“First, I just want to say that I don’t agree with everything that the Fed has done. I do have enormous respect for Jay Powell, the man. Everyone we know believes in Fed independence, and so do we. And anything that chips away at that is probably not a great idea. And in my view, it will have the reverse consequences. It will raise inflation expectations and probably increase rates over time.”
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4 big questions about Powell vs. Trump
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is done playing nice, writes Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban.
Hamza reports:
Read other questions and insight here, in the takeaway from today’s Morning Brief.
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BNY CEO weighs in on the Trump vs. Powell battle
BNY (BNY) CEO Robin Vince commented on concerns about Federal Reserve independence from the DOJ’s Powell probe, speaking on a reporter call post-earnings:
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JPMorgan earnings miss as Dimon warns on risks
US investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) posted fourth-quarter results on Tuesday that beat revenue estimates but missed earnings expectations, as net income was hit following its deal to take over the Apple Card (AAPL) from Goldman Sachs (GS).
Yahoo Finance senior reporter David Hollerith looks at the latest earnings release from JPM.
Read more here.
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Pentagon to invest $1 billion in rocket motor maker L3Harris
Shares in L3Harris Technologies (LHX) surged before the bell on news the US government will invest $1 billion in its rocket motor business.
The move guarantees a steady supply of the much-needed motors used in a wide range of missiles such as Tomahawks and Patriot interceptors.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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Delta stock falls despite Q4 earnings beat
Delta Airlines’ (DAL) stock sank as much as 5% before the bell on Tuesday despite posting upbeat Q4 results, as its forecast fell below estimates.
The airline company said growth in the premium business and lack of certain headwinds would propel its business forward in 2026.
Yahoo Finance senior reporter Pras Subramanian delves into the latest results from Delta.
Read more here.
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Premarket trending tickers: Intel, Revvity, and MP Materials
Intel (INTC) stock rose 3% before the bell on Tuesday. KeyBanc analysts raised their rating on the chipmaker to Overweight from Sector Weight due to strong demand for their central processing units.
Revvity (RVTY) stock climbed 5% during premarket trading on Tuesday after the health company raised its full-year outlook ahead of its earnings release in February.
MP Materials (MP) stock edged higher on Tuesday by 3%. The rare earths company was awarded funding from the US government for a $900 million manufacturing facility last year, and experts believe companies like MP could get a boost from the US’s latest move in Venezuela.
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Investors expect less earnings-day volatility, but can still seek opportunities: Goldman Sachs
Investors are expecting a low-volatility earnings season, given softer option volumes over the past two weeks and balanced positioning, according to a Jan. 8 note on tactical earnings trades from the Goldman Sachs Investment Research team.
The analysts estimated the average implied earnings day stock move — how much the market expects a stock to swing following corporate results, based on options data — is 4.5% in either direction, below the long-term average.
“With less fear priced in, it is more difficult to see relief rallies on earnings days,” they wrote.
Eearnin
Still, the Goldman Sachs team noted that having exposure to stocks through their earnings events remains important for fundamental investors. Just two quarters ago, the actual moves on earnings days for individual stocks were at their highest level since 2009.
Where the team does expect more volatility is in utility, healthcare, materials, and industrial stocks, which “have been making the most unusually large moves on earnings-day in recent quarters.”
Get the latest here on Q4 earnings season in Yahoo Finance’s live blog.
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CPI preview: Inflation expected to be muted in December as economic data gets back on track
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December is set for release Tuesday morning, with the data expected to show inflation pressures remained steady in the final month of 2025.
Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland takes a look at what to expect and what to watch:
Read more here.
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Gold steadies close to record on worries over Fed’s independence
Gold (GC=F) steadied close to another record on Tuesday, as investors focused on the latest attacks on the Federal Reserve by the Trump administration, which have raised some concerns over the Fed’s independence.
Bloomberg News reports:
Read more here.
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Nvidia walks back statement that Chinese buyers would have to pay for H200 upfront
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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BlackRock cuts 1% of staff
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
