S&P 500 top movers: Nike Inc (NKE: NYSE) surges to record high above $130

S&P 500 Index is looking to close sharply lower.
Nike Inc (NKE: NYSE) shares post strong gains on upbeat earnings figures.
Lithium producers' stocks are suffering heavy losses on Wednesday.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) opened modestly higher on Wednesday but failed to preserve its momentum and staged a sharp U-turn in the second half of the session. As of writing, the SPX was down 1.65% on a daily basis at 3,260.

All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 trade in the negative territory on Wednesday with the Energy Index as the worst-performer with a daily loss of 3.4%.

S&P 500 top movers

After the closing bell on Tuesday, Nike Inc (NKE: NYSE) reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share for the quarter ended in August and beat the analysts' mean expectation for earnings of 47 cents per share. Additionally, the company reported that the revenue fell by 0.6% to $10.59 billion from a year ago, which was much higher than the analysts' estimate of $9.14 billion.

On the back of the upbeat earnings figures, at least 15 brokerage firms hiked their price targets and NKE surged to a fresh record high of $130.38. As of writing, NKE was the biggest percentage gainer of the day, up 8.33% at $126.60.

On the other hand, pressured by Tesla Inc's plans to reduce electric battery costs dramatically, shares of lithium producers are registering heavy losses on Wednesday. At the moment, Lithium Americas Corp (NYSE: LAC), Albemarle Corp (ALB: NYSE) and Livent Corp (LTHM: NYSE) shares are down 19.9%, 14.7% and 7.5%, respectively.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Iran escalation: Quick thoughts on markets

Markets are likely to open the week with risk-off, with declines led by airlines, cyclicals and trade-exposed names, while energy, defense and “strategic” sectors may be relatively steadier.

Oil at a critical breakpoint: Will geopolitics trigger the next major move?

The week ahead blends two powerful forces: moderating economic momentum and increasing geopolitical tension. While US and Eurozone data suggest steady but unspectacular growth, rising friction between the US and Iran is injecting a fresh risk premium into energy markets. Macro is softening but geopolitics may dominate price action.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.