Monday’s Insider Activity: Andreessen Horowitz Leads Major Buys

Investing.com -- Canada’s main stock index trended higher on Tuesday morning, as an unrelenting surge in gold and silver prices offset a disappointing domestic GDP reading. Mining giants led the gains in Toronto, keeping the benchmark index in record territory during the final full trading session before the Christmas break.

At 8:50 ET, S&P/TSX 60 Futures had gained 5.4 points or 0.3%, building on Monday’s 0.4% advance.

The S&P/TSX Composite index ended Monday at 32,000.10, a gain of approximately 244 points or 0.77%. This move pushed the index past its previous record of 31,755.82, fueled by a year-end "Santa Rally" and a historic breakout in the metals complex.

Precious metals hit 50th record of the year

Gold and silver miners are expected to drive the TSX higher today as precious metals reach uncharted levels. Gold Futures climbed to a fresh all-time high of $4,530.30/oz on Tuesday, marking the 50th session this year that the yellow metal has set a new record.

Silver Futures also breached the psychological $70/oz mark for the first time, gaining 2.3% to hit a record $70.15/oz. The rally is being sustained by a "perfect storm" of easing bond yields, central bank purchases, and heightened geopolitical risk, specifically linked to U.S. naval activity near Venezuela.

In Monday’s trade, mining heavyweights Barrick Mining Corp (TSX:ABX), Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX:AEM), and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp (TSX:WPM) all posted gains exceeding 2%.

Domestic GDP contraction weighs on sentiment

The bullish move in commodities provided a necessary cushion against weak economic data from Ottawa. Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that real GDP contracted 0.3% in October, missing economist expectations of a 0.2% decline.

The drop was widespread, with 11 of 20 industrial sectors shrinking. Manufacturing fell 1.5%, while a province-wide teachers’ strike in Alberta and a nation-wide postal strike significantly hampered the services sector. Despite the soft October print, a preliminary estimate for November suggests a modest 0.1% rebound, though analysts remain wary of the fourth-quarter outlook.

U.S. "Data Dump" and Novo Nordisk milestone

Across the border, U.S. stock futures gained as investors dissected the release of the delayed Q3 GDP report, showing that the U.S. economy grew at a 4.3% annual rate in the third quarter. Analysts were expecting the Q3 GDP, the value of all goods and services produced across the economy, to grow at an annualized 3.2% pace in the third quarter.

The data, stalled by a 43-day federal government shutdown earlier this year, is the first official look at the pre-shutdown economy. Markets are also awaiting December consumer confidence figures to gauge the resilience of the American shopper.

In corporate news, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) shares jumped 9% in premarket trade following the historic FDA approval of an oral pill version of its weight-loss drug, Wegovy. The approval of the first-ever oral GLP-1 for weight management is expected to significantly expand the company’s addressable market starting in January 2026.

Oil markets steady as geopolitical risk balances oversupply

Energy prices remained resilient on Tuesday as the market weighed intensifying geopolitical tensions against a backdrop of ample global supply and thin holiday trading volumes.

At 8:50 ET, Crude Oil WTI Futures rose 0.33% to $58.20 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures gained 0.27% to trade at $62.24 a barrel. Both benchmarks are consolidating after a powerful 2% surge on Monday triggered by the Trump administration’s aggressive "naval blockade" of Venezuelan tankers.

Investing.com -- RTX Corporation’s Raytheon business has secured a $1.7 billion contract to deliver four Patriot air and missile defense systems to Spain, representing the country’s largest-ever Patriot order.

The comprehensive contract includes radars, launchers, command and control stations, and training equipment. As part of the agreement, Raytheon will collaborate with Spanish defense companies, including Sener, which will provide missile components.

Patriot systems are designed to defend against various aerial threats, including cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and other airborne dangers.

Spain’s purchase follows similar moves by other European nations in 2025, with Germany, Netherlands, and Romania also placing orders for Patriot systems this year.

RTX shares rose 0.5% in premarket trading Tuesday following the announcement.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- A blockbuster year for one stock may have further to run, according to Morgan Stanley, which argued the company is “setting up for a very strong 2026” even after a 108% year-to-date rally.

In a new note, Morgan Stanley analyst Shawn Kim said the bank expects “very strong 4Q25 prelims on January 8” for Samsung Electronics  but emphasised that “the reaction to the print is always more important than the data itself.” 

Despite elevated expectations, the firm believes the 12-month outlook for demand, supply and competitive positioning remains highly favourable for the company.

Morgan Stanley cited surging memory prices as a major driver. The analyst stated that DRAM pricing is tracking close to +50% quarter-on-quarter, while NAND is running at +30%, helped by a richer server and eSSD mix. 

“HBM4 sample feedback remains positive with no revisions required,” wrote Kim.

On the numbers, Morgan Stanley expects Samsung to post KRW18 trillion in preliminary operating profit for the fourth quarter, including more than KRW15 trillion from memory, alongside improving results in foundry and resilient smartphone and OLED demand.

Critically, the bank believes the memory upcycle is still in its early stages. It expects Samsung’s memory profits to “grow 310% in 2026,” potentially nearing KRW100 trillion, with DRAM pricing forecast to rise another 30–40% in the first quarter of 2026.

Despite the stock’s massive rally, Morgan Stanley expects shares to “test the previous 2x P/B peak.”

“Earnings forecasts continue on a steep upward trajectory, and quality remains on sale for the stock, with past dislocations (HBM) appearing temporary,” concluded Kim.

Investing.com -- Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is expected to fall short of market expectations for fourth-quarter vehicle deliveries, with analysts pointing to a post-subsidy demand hangover in the U.S. and more modest momentum elsewhere.

Get premium insight on demand trends, delivery forecasts, and AI stock picks with InvestingPro – get 55% off today.

Brokerage firm New Street Research expects Tesla to deliver between 415,000 and 435,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, compared with a consensus estimate of around 440,000.

Analyst Pierre Ferragu said deliveries are being weighed down by “pull-forwards of 3Q,” following the expiration of U.S. subsidies at the end of September.

The U.S. is seen as the main source of weakness. Ferragu expects U.S. deliveries to fall by about 75,000 units quarter-on-quarter (q/q), describing the situation as a “U.S. air-pocket” as volumes normalize after subsidy-driven strength in the prior quarter.

Similarly, UBS analyst Joseph Spak forecasts total fourth-quarter deliveries of 415,000 vehicles, around 5% below Visible Alpha consensus.

He flagged weaker U.S. demand following the expiration of the $7,500 consumer EV tax credit as a key factor, noting that U.S. sales could be down more than 35% quarter-on-quarter and down 25% year-over-year (y/y).

Outside the U.S., analysts see a more stable picture. New Street Research expects China and Europe deliveries to rise by around 10% sequentially, broadly in line with typical seasonal patterns.

Yet, while Europe is improving quarter-on-quarter, deliveries are still expected to be down year-on-year, UBS notes.

“We expect Europe is improved q/q. Through the first 2 months of the quarter, deliveries in Europe’s top 8 markets are up ~31% q/q. We expect the region to end around ~70k deliveries for the quarter. This would likely be down ~15% y/y,” Spak wrote.

In China, the analyst expects deliveries to be up modestly from the prior quarter but potentially down as much as 10% year-on-year, despite December typically being the strongest month for sales.

The rest of the world (RoW) is expected to moderate after a strong third quarter. New Street Research forecasts a quarter-on-quarter decline following outsized strength in markets such as South Korea and Turkey, though volumes are expected remain higher year-on-year as Tesla continues to expand internationally.

UBS also flagged weaker deliveries in Turkey after a tax benefit ended, alongside softer momentum in South Korea.

Lower delivery volumes are expected to pressure profitability. Ferragu projects gross margin to decline by 2.3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, putting margins about 2.2 points below consensus expectations.

Despite near-term delivery headwinds, analysts note that investor focus may not be as much on quarterly volumes.

“The question increasingly becomes: does the market no longer care about deliveries and only robo-taxi and Optimus developments?” Spak wrote.

He expects Tesla to report fourth-quarter deliveries on January 2.

Investing.com – Saudi Arabia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Hotels & Tourism, Retail and Financial Services sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share rose 0.41%.

The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Saudi Cable Company (TADAWUL:2110), which rose 9.98% or 13.40 points to trade at 147.70 at the close. Meanwhile, United Carton Industries Company (TADAWUL:1323) added 4.09% or 1.04 points to end at 26.46 and Al Yamamah Steel Industries Co (TADAWUL:1304) was up 4.07% or 1.28 points to 32.70 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Emaar The Economic City (TADAWUL:4220), which fell 3.55% or 0.38 points to trade at 10.32 at the close. Derayah REIT (TADAWUL:4339) declined 2.93% or 0.16 points to end at 5.31 and Derayah Financial CJSC (TADAWUL:4084) was down 2.13% or 0.58 points to 26.62.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 203 to 126 and 17 ended unchanged.

Shares in Emaar The Economic City (TADAWUL:4220) fell to all time lows; falling 3.55% or 0.38 to 10.32.

Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.21% or 0.12 to $58.13 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.23% or 0.14 to hit $62.21 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 1.10% or 49.30 to trade at $4,518.70 a troy ounce.

EUR/SAR was up 0.34% to 4.43, while USD/SAR unchanged 0.02% to 3.75.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.39% at 97.57.