Stock Market Today: Stocks end higher as Nvidia surges, Powell, inflation in focus

Updated at 4:46 PM EDT by Rob Lenihan

Stocks ended higher Monday as investors shrugged off a new tariff threat from President Donald Trump, as well as comments that could upset Treasury bond markets, ahead of a key week for inflation data and monetary policy updates on Wall Street. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 167.01 points, or 0.38%, to finish the session at 44,470.41, while the S&P 500 rose 0.67% to end at 6,066.44, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.98% to end the day 19,714.27, with Nvidia and other chipmakers posting gains.

Analysts at LPL Financial said that the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek and headline tariff risk have rattled markets, but, "despite near-term risks, we believe investors should give the bull market the benefit of the doubt."

"After all, since 1950, the average bull market tends to last over five years, and this bull just turned two last October," the firm said in its weekly market commentary. "Plus, it's hard to dispute the bullish momentum in the broader market."

The S&P 500's impressive 23.3% gain in 2024 carried over into January, LPL Financial said, and despite a slow start, the index rebounded to achieve a 2.7% gain last month, and historically, a positive January has been a bullish indicator for stocks.

Updated at 12:38 PM EST

Tesla skid

Tesla  (TSLA)  shares were back in the red Monday, extending the decline from their mid-December peak to around $290 billion, amid a series of sales figures showing a notable decline in demand in key overseas markets. 

China's Passenger Car Association said Friday that Tesla's January sales fell 11.5% from last year to 63,238 units, and were down more than 32% from December levels. 

Registrations in Germany, meanwhile, plunged 59% to the lowest since July of 2021 with some analysts citing CEO Elon Musk's close ties to President Trump and his work in identifying alleged waste and fraud in the U.S. federal budget. 

Tesla shares were last marked 0.8% lower on the session and changing hands at $358.69 each, a move that still leaves the stock up more than 81% over the past six months. 

Why do you think $TSLA is down 8% YTD?

- street upgrades across the board to $400+
- unsupervised FSD launching in Texas in June
- robotics continuing to see traction even if no commercial deals

i think the street is concerned about European registrations being down 20% YoY and… pic.twitter.com/nyxR6C4Lfk— amit (@amitisinvesting) February 10, 2025

Updated at 11:06 AM EST

Inflated views

The New York Fed's survey of consumer inflation expectations showed year-ahead forecasts held steady at 3% last month, but eased modestly from December levels for the five-year forecast, which was also pegged at 3%.

"Commodity price expectations rose across the board, with the expected price change for gas, food, medical care, education, and rent all increasing," the central bank said. "Labor market expectations were mixed, with job loss and job finding expectations both rising and unemployment expectations falling to the lowest level since July 2021."

"Household spending growth expectations also declined in January, hitting the lowest level seen in the last four year," the NY Fed survey noted.