Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent said he would support tougher sanctions on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine if President-elect Donald Trump asks.

"If I were confirmed, if President Trump asked for it, and as part of his strategy to end the war in Ukraine... I would 100 percent support sanctions, particularly on Russian oil majors, to a degree that would cause the Russian Federation to came to the table," Bessant said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Treasury Department recently announced broad sanctions on Russian energy to cut off Moscow's revenue amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Bessant questioned the timing of the recently announced broader measures, which pushed up oil prices before Trump took office.

However, he expressed support for using tough sanctions as part of a negotiating strategy to end Ukraine's conflict with Russia.

During the hearing, Bessant also expressed support for imposing sanctions on Iran.

Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports:

Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) more than doubled fourth-quarter 2024 profits, cementing Wall Street's renaissance and making dealmakers optimistic about the coming Trump era in 2025.

Strong investment banking and trading results also helped boost fourth-quarter profits at other large banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

The six major U.S. banks that have reported earnings so far this week have combined fourth-quarter profits of more than $36 billion, and full-year 2024 profits of $145.7 billion.

Fourth-quarter profits were more than double the collective profit in the fourth quarter of 2023, with annual profits up 19%.

Read more here.

Yahoo Finance's Claire Boston reports:

Mortgage rates rose this week to their highest levels since May 2024, and bonds that closely track them are in a volatile period.

The average 30-year mortgage rate jumped to 7.04% as of Wednesday, from 6.93% a week ago, after strong employment data pushed up Treasury yields, which are most closely related to mortgage rates. The average 15-year mortgage rate also rose to 6.27% from 6.14%, according to Freddie Mac.

Read more here.

Shares of Apple and Tesla led the Nasdaq (^IXIC) lower on Thursday. The technology index fell about 0.3%.

Apple shares fell more than 3% and were on track to hit their lowest closing price since November. The iPhone maker has been under pressure over concerns about slowing sales in China.

Shares of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) also fell on Thursday, down more than 3.5%. The company is offering new discounts on the Cybertruck, a sign that electric pickup trucks may be heading into a downturn.

Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent called for U.S. federal spending in response to Senator Grassley's comments about fiscal imbalances during his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

"Yes, we don't have a revenue problem in the United States, we have a spending problem," Bessant said.

"This spending is out of control. We're spending about 24% or 25% of GDP... We've never seen this before in a situation that's not a recession or a war," Bessant said.

"I'm concerned because the U.S. Treasury has been called upon multiple times to rescue the country," he added. Bessant cited significant borrowing during events such as World War II, the Great Depression and the recent pandemic.

Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent highlighted the opportunities of America's new "golden age" in his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing.

"Today, I believe President Trump has a generational opportunity to usher in a new golden age of economics that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans," Bessant told lawmakers Thursday morning.

The nominee emphasized that his lifelong work in the private sector gave him an understanding of economics and markets.

"I have never served in government, and if confirmed, I intend to remain in close contact with each of you and your offices and seek your support," Bessant said.

He also stressed the need for the government to ensure the dollar remains the world's reserve currency.

Lawmakers gave opening remarks Thursday morning at the confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant.

The hearing is likely to last about two and a half hours.

Among the issues Bessant may face include tariff policy, Republican tax initiatives and the 2025 spending plan.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Treasury secretary, Scott Bessant, will be questioned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill starting at 10:30 a.m. ET today.

Yahoo Finance's Ben Weshkull reports on two issues to watch at the hearing: One is the slew of seemingly competing tariff plans before President-elect Donald Trump, one of which Bessant himself is reportedly pushing Some plans.

The second question is whether Republicans can ignore debt concerns and move forward with a 2025 tax and spending plan.

Read more here.

Despite rising mortgage rates, builders are starting the year more optimistic than they will be at the end of 2024.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 47 in January, up one percentage point from December and above economists' expectations of 45, according to Bloomberg data.

Still, readings below 50 indicate that more builders consider conditions to be poor rather than good.

Freddie Mac said the dilemma of high housing costs remains, with mortgage rates hovering near 7% for the past four weeks. Markets expect the Fed to likely keep interest rates on hold this month, especially after new inflation data released on Wednesday showed some signs of easing. The Fed does not set mortgage rates, but its actions can influence the direction of yields and, therefore, borrowing costs.

NAHB surveys show builders continued to offer deals in January. The survey found that 60% of builders used some kind of sales incentive to close deals, while 30% lowered home prices to boost January sales. The average price reduction was 5%, which was similar to December's price reductions.

U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday following the S&P 500's (^GSPC) best day since November and strong quarterly bank earnings.

The broad-based index gained more than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained about 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is hovering near the flat line.

Investors are eyeing a continuation of Thursday's performance, with stocks rising on better-than-expected inflation data and strong quarterly bank earnings.

Traders have been assessing how many rate cuts the Fed will implement this year after a better-than-expected jobs report on Friday but cooling inflation data on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs analysts said in a recent note that they "now forecast two 25 basis point rate cuts in June and December this year (following three cuts in March, June and September), followed by a further 25 basis points in 2026." rate cut again in June.”

Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer reports:

Retail sales grew at a slower pace than Wall Street expected in December as investors closely watched the pace of economic growth and doubted the speed of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts.

Retail sales increased 0.4% in December. Economists had expected spending to rise 0.6%, according to Bloomberg data. Meanwhile, November retail sales were revised up to a 0.8% increase from the previous 0.7% increase, according to the Census Bureau.

Read more here.

The chart produced by the Vanda Research team provides a good look at the Mag 7 traffic coming from the retail trading community.

You can see a slowdown in activity in January, with companies like Nvidia coming under pressure.

Dare I say, it's refreshing to see traders cannibalizing the other 493 stocks in the S&P 500!

Target (TGT) shares are up premarket this morning after reporting holiday sales results.

Not sure why Target didn't blow me away!

Sales were barely up, and the company reiterated its earnings-per-share forecast -- with the upper end of the forecast $0.20 below the current sell-side consensus.

Bottom line: This was another quarter in which Target Corp. showed it continues to lose market share to Walmart (WMT). Here's what Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told me when he accepted the 2024 Company of the Year award.

PS: I love Walmart’s new blue logo color, which ties in with founder Sam Walton’s iconic trucker hat.