Trending stocks as Wall Street recovers from recent volatility

Seeking Alpha News (Sat, 12-Apr 1:09 PM)

After stocks tanked in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s tariff shocks last week, Wall Street seemed to have steadied itself and shook off some of the bearishness this week.

The S&P 500 jumped 7.8% over the week, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 9.2%.

Investors reacted positively to Trump issuing a 90-day tariff pause and Boston Fed President Susan Collins assuring that the Fed would “absolutely be prepared” to help stabilize financial markets if required.

However, caution still reigned in the market, with uncertainties around Trump’s rollercoaster trade policies and countries’ reactions to them.

The week also saw the first quarter earnings season start with major U.S. banks releasing their latest quarterly reports.

Amid another wild week for Wall Street, these were some of the trending stocks:

US Steel (X) shares fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he didn’t want a Japanese company to buy the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker. Earlier, on Monday, Trump ordered a national security review of its planned sale to Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY). The President also added later on Thursday that he likes Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY) as an investor and doesn't want the U.S. steelmaker sold to a Japanese company.

CVS (CVS), Humana (HUM), UnitedHealth (UNH) and other managed-care stocks rose on Tuesday after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a 5.06% average increase in payments to Medicare Advantage plans from 2025 to 2026, a sharp increase from the 2.23% the agency proposed as part of its Advance Notice in January.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) was in news after the chipmaker agreed to sell its automotive ethernet business for $2.5B in cash to Infineon Technologies.

Coal stocks gained on Tuesday as President Donald Trump signed executive orders intended to expand the production and use of coal in the U.S. Peabody Energy (BTU) rose 9.2%, Ramaco Resources (METC) +13.9%, Core Natural Resources (CNR) +6.6%, Warrior Met Coal (HCC) +6.3%, Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) +4.8%, Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) +2.4%, SunCoke Energy (SXC) +1.2%.

Easterly Government Properties (DEA) erased over 18% after the company announced a 32% cut to its quarterly dividend, lowering it to $0.18 per share from $0.265. The board also approved a 1-for-2.5 reverse stock split.

Trump Media (DJT) rose as much as 22.4% on Wednesday, notching its best gains since January this year. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump said, "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT." The post came hours before the announcement of the 90-day pause on the U.S. reciprocal tariffs unveiled by him earlier this month.

CarMax (KMX) lost shares fall as much as 17% on Thursday after the used-car retailer’s earnings per share and comparable store sales for the fourth quarter missed market expectations. The company also removed timeframes associated with its long-term goals, citing “the potential impact of broader macro factors.”

Shares in companies working on biotech AI models gained after the FDA said on Thursday it plans to phase out animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs. Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX), Absci (ABSI), Certara (CERT), Schrodinger (SDGR) and Nuvation Bio (NUVB) were some of the notable gainers.

Shares of major European drugmakers, including AstraZeneca (AZN), GSK (GSK), Novartis (NVS), Sanofi (SNY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO), fell Wednesday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to impose a "major" tariff on all pharmaceutical imports.