Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise after Trump backpedals on Greenland tariffs

The US and Chinese governments have reportedly approved a deal to sell TikTok’s US business to a group of American investors led by Larry Ellison’s Oracle (ORCL) and the private equity firm Silver Lake Technology Management, Semafor reported on Thursday.

Shares in Oracle traded roughly 2.3% higher in the minutes after the news broke.

The deal — which was laid out in an internal memo from ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo — would see ByteDance retain a stake equal to less than 20% of TikTok’s US business, while Oracle, Silver Lake, and state-owned Emirati investment firm MGX would all take 15% stakes, according to Semafor.

Quantitative trading firm Susquehanna and Michael Dell’s family office will also reportedly invest in the deal, Semafor reported.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew said in December that the company had signed binding agreements with the consortium of non-Chinese investors who would take control of the social media platform’s US business.

At the time, Chew said the deal was set to close on Jan. 22, 2026, a deadline put in place by the Trump administration in an executive order that granted a 120-day-long halt on the US enforcing a federal ban on TikTok use inside the US.

The deal that has been approved by US and Chinese regulators is now set to close this week, Semafor reported. Though figures have not been publicly shared, Vice President JD Vance said in September that a deal would likely value TikTok’s US business at around $14 billion.

Meta (META) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) led the “Magnificent Seven” large-cap technology stocks higher Thursday morning amid fresh bullish takes from Wall Street.

Jefferies (JEF) analyst Brent Thill reiterated Meta as one of the investing firm’s top picks and told clients to buy the dip — shares are down 4% in 2026 — as he believes the company will solidify an AI strategy to boost its core ad business given recent hires and the potential release of a new model in the first half of the year.

“Despite reports casting doubt on these hires and META’s AI culture, with META having all the key ingredients for AI (users/data, compute, talent), we remain very positive,” he said in a note to investors Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, Raymond James (RJF) analyst Josh Beck upgraded GOOGL shares to a Strong Buy rating from Outperform, saying its integrated AI stack (chips, models, and applications) “could create one of the highest quality top-line AI acceleration stories in the public universe.”

Meta stock jumped nearly 4% Thursday morning, while Google climbed almost 2%. Other Big Tech stocks rose around 1%.

US stocks picked up steam on Thursday as investors rallied following President Trump’s decision to call off his tariff threats against European countries over his pursuit of Greenland.

The market’s biggest players led the advance, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and blue chip-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) both picked up roughly 1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) added roughly 0.7% on top of a sharp rally Wednesday.

The stock market reacted positively after Trump announced he was pulling back from his 10% tariff plan for eight NATO members in February, easing worries that had rekindled the “Sell America” trade.

Beyond trade and geopolitics, investors will be watching for Intel (INTC) to lead out Big Tech earnings after the bell on Thursday and a shutdown-delayed report on the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has extended the deadline on its tender offer for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares in its bid to acquire the company, according to a proxy document filed on Thursday.

Shares in Paramount jumped by 0.4% in premarket trading on Thursday, while shares in WBD fell by roughly 0.4%.

Paramount’s tender offer, originally filed on Dec. 8 to acquire all of WBD’s common stock at $30 per share as part of CEO David Ellison’s bid to acquire the rival company, was set to expire on Jan. 21. The new deadline for the offer is Feb. 20.

The move marks the latest step in Paramount’s months-long bid to acquire WBD, helmed by media titan David Zaslav, and beat out Netflix (NFLX), a saga that has been running since September.

Netflix shares gained roughly 0.5% in premarket trading on Thursday.

While Ted Sarandos’s Netflix is seeking to acquire WBD’s studios & streaming assets, Paramount is seeking a full buy-out of Zaslav’s media company.

Paramount’s $30 per share all-cash offer, valued at $108.4 billion, was initially rejected by WBD’s board on worries that Paramount did not have the liquidity to fund such a deal. To ease those concerns, Oracle founder and David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, agreed to personally backstop more than $40 billion in financing for the deal.

Paramount has also sued WBD in an attempt to force Zaslav’s company back to the negotiating table.

In the latest twist in the M&A battle that has captivated Wall Street, Netflix revised its offer to an all-cash bid at $27.75 per share — valuing WBD at $82.7 billion — where previously the streaming giant had been offering a cash-and-stock bid.

Natural gas (NG=F) futures have soared, picking up more than 75% over the past five trading sessions to mark the largest five-day gain since at least 1990.

The energy product, trading around $3 per million British thermal unit (MMBtu) at the start of the week, is now changing hands at over $5 per MMBtu.

Weather forecasts are showing a major cold snap set to hit a wide swath of the eastern seaboard this coming weekend, with low temperatures and heavy snow expected across an area stretching from New York City to Dallas.

Overall, the storm is expected to impact more than 150 million people, according to AccuWeather.

“We are anticipating a major winter weather event expected to impact much of the US population this weekend, especially the Midwest and East Coast,” Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in an X post. “Please prepare and take precautions in the event of power outages, pipe-bursts, road closures, airport delays, flight cancellations, and freezing temperatures.”

Natural gas is the most common source for heating through the US, responsible for fueling 47% of heating demand, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gas also makes up a significant chunk of electrical generation power. Cold weather, like that predicted to hit New York City and the surrounding area, triggers natural gas demand as people turn on their heaters and backup generators in power outages.

Gas is also susceptible to quick pricing pressure because it can only reliably be moved around the country by pipeline, meaning extra supply cannot be quickly trucked in like oil. The data center boom is also putting increasing pressure on the market as Big Tech developers turn to gas for quick, cheap power, booking pipelines and further tightening supply.

Major US natural gas producers EQT Corporation (EQT) and Antero Resources Corporation (AR) both picked up steam in premarket trading on Thursday after rallies on Wednesday of 6% and 4%, respectively. Major pipeline operator The Williams Companies (WMB) traded down before the market open on Thursday after picking up 2.5% on Wednesday.