Big Tech Excitement Pushes S&P 500 Past 7k

Pre-earnings buzz from Big Tech titans Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) is driving market sentiment modestly higher this afternoon, as well as the first Federal Reserve rate cut decision for 2026, which is expected to bring an unchanged reading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are trading near breakeven, but the latter is fresh off another record, earlier crossing the 7,000 threshold for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is also inching higher, after China gave approval to several companies to purchase Nvidia's (NVDA) H200 AI chips.

• Results, outlook give popular telecom stock a boost.
• Tech giant hitting post-earnings record highs.
• Plus, insurance sector extends struggle; energy name carving out more gains; and the auto stock to avoid today.

Healthcare giant Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) is suffering a third-straight drop, extending yesterday's insurance sector selloff, last seen trading off 4.5% at $198.29 -- a nine-year low. Now off 35% year-over-year, options traders are swarming the equity. So far, 13,000 calls and 11,000 puts have been exchanged, six times the average daily pace. Most popular are the weekly 1/30 200-strike put followed by the 205-strike call in the same series, with positions being sold-to-open at the latter.

Electric equipment name Bloom Energy Corp (NYSE:BE) is one of the top stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), up 7.4% at $163.50 at last glance, earlier touching a record high of $164.40. Triggering today's pop is an initiation of coverage by China Renaissance and Barclays, which came in the form of a "buy" and "equal weight" rating, respectively. BE is up nearly 700% over the past 12 months, while the $80 level provided much-needed support in November and December.

Carvana Co (NYSE:CVNA) is pulling back this afternoon, brushing off a price-target hike from J.P. Morgan Securities to $510 from $490. The shares touched a record high of $486.89 on Jan. 23, and now look to close below $450 for the first time in nearly two weeks. Long-term CVNA has outperformed, up 71% over the past 12 months.