A specialist trader works at his post on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, Jan. 21, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures rose Wednesday night after easing geopolitical fears sparked a broad-based market rally.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 71 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.3%.
Major U.S. stock averages immediately jumped during the regular session after President Donald Trump said he would no longer impose his new Europe tariffs that were set to begin Feb. 1 and announced reaching a deal “framework” over Greenland.
Trump, who has been relentlessly pushing for U.S. control of Greenland in recent weeks, said Wednesday on Truth Social that he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.” Shortly after that announcement, Trump told CNBC that “we have a concept of a deal” with the Arctic island. Stocks were already rising after the U.S. president earlier said in a speech at theWorld Economic Forumin Davos, Switzerland, that he would not move to acquire Greenland by force.
The S&P 500 rose nearly 1.2% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Averagesurged almost 589 points, or 1.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Compositeadvanced nearly 1.2%. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks gained about 2% and notched a record close.
“The Greenland crisis appears to be defusing and reversing the recent sell-off, although details are still forthcoming around the ‘framework,'” said Eric Teal, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management. He said that the relief rally sparked significant gains in traditional value sectors such as financials and energy stocks.
A broadening rally is a “hallmark of a healthy market,” said Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group.
“Investors should not be surprised that, once again, buy-the-dip has proven to be a solid investment strategy,” she said. “While investors should expect more volatility this year, the case for a continued bull market remains strong …. Earnings estimates continue to rise — not just among the ‘Magnificent Seven’ AI leaders, but across sectors such as financials and industrials.”
Stocks are still in the red for the week despite Wednesday’s rally. The 30-stock Dow is headed for a 0.6% decline, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on track to lose about 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
Investors continue to watch earnings reports this week from several big-name companies. Thursday will see Procter & Gamble, Intel and GE Aerospace post their quarterly results. On the economic front, weekly jobless claims are due Thursday morning.
Intel shares pop to highest level since Jan. 2022 ahead of quarterly results out Thursday
Investors are piling into Intel ahead of the chipmaker’s quarterly earnings report scheduled for after Thursday’s market close.
The stock jumped more than 11% on Wednesday, touching its highest level since January 2022. Much of the bullish sentiment is driven by enthusiasm on Intel’s latest server chips, as well as investments last year from the U.S. government and Nvidia into Intel.
Intel shares over the past five sessions
Ben Reitzes,head of technology research at Melius Research,wrote in a note to clients that Intel’s strong performance could signal more value ahead for its foundry business.
“Since Lip-Bu Tan was announced as CEO, shares of Intel have risen about 160%, with most of that performance coming since September when shortages started to become a big thing.Intel has the backing of Nvidia and the U.S. Government, who both look very smart right now. Intel is also now part of the vast ‘shortage cohort’ along with Micron, Western Digital and other rocket ships … Surging data center capex is driving up demand for Intel’s server CPUs and advanced packaging assets for chips,” Reitzes wrote.
“There is another issue reverberating throughout ‘the shortage world,’ specific to Intel but forgotten by haters. The more TSMC raises prices and is forced to give Nvidia and Broadcom huge AI chip allocations, the more an elephant like Apple will be forced to engage with Intel for its Foundry,” he added
— Pia Singh
Knight-Swift Transportation drops on fourth-quarter earnings, revenue miss
Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation dropped 3.5% after the company issued disappointing first-quarter guidance.
Knight-Swift shares in the past day
The truckload carrier sees first quarter adjusted earnings landing between 28 cents to 32 cents per share, compared to the FactSet consensus call for 31 cents a share.
Fourth-quarter results also missed the mark on the top and bottom lines. Knight-Swift reported adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $1.86 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of 36 cents per share on $1.9 billion in revenue.
— Pia Singh
U.S. stock futures open higher on Wednesday
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