Dow up 400 points, gasoline vehicles favored by President Trump, and American Eagle soars: Stock Market News

Another day, another gain, or so it might be for Anthropic, which is reportedly set to list as an IPO as early as 2026, according to the Financial Times. Meanwhile, the stock market also remained resolute on Wednesday, December 3, continuing its gains from the previous day.

• The S&P 500 was up 0.3%, with the Nasdaq also showing a slight but steady gain, up 0.2%.
• The Dow Jones, up more than 400 points, closed 0.9% higher.
• The Russell 2000 showed an impressive 1.9% gain, very close to recording a fresh high if the upward trend continues.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 3% today, marking a 6% decline over the last five days. A signal of cooling market anxiety or an impact of the Federal Reserve increasingly supporting a December cut? Well, until that is announced, all we can do is keep monitoring the probabilities and prediction markets, after all, they are an increasing craze.

Gold and Silver gained 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively. Silver, which was closer to hitting the $60 mark earlier in the day, closed slightly lower.

Of bidding and betting

Talk about unexpected, not entirely, but bets were on OpenAI becoming public sooner than anyone, but according to the FT, Anthropic might win the race. The Claude maker might also make history by becoming the largest IPO ever, with private funding talks ongoing that would value it above $300 billion.

More Retail Stocks:

• Costco CFO makes rare pricing promise
• Home Depot faces growing consumer boycott calls ahead of holidays
• Target’s efforts to make amends with customers hit a snag
• Amazon lawsuit could be a warning to other employers

Bitcoin retained its gain today, up 2.6% and was at $93,732 at the time of this report. The stock of Strategy also gained 3.9%, continuing its upward trend. But are people okay with the previous instability in the cryptocurrency market? Hard to say.

Bets on who will buy end up acquiring the coveted HBO owner Warner Bros. Discovery are also ripe, with bidders Comcast, Paramount Skydance, and Netflix sweetening up their earlier offers with promises of cash and stocks. 

However, Netflix stock did not react positively to the bidding war and was down 4.9% today. 

Not far behind was Paramount Skydance, which wants to acquire WBD as a whole, and saw a 7.3% stock decline on Wednesday. Only Comcast was up 1.5%.

Related: White House demands have unexpected impact on Warner Bros. sale

Government shakes up rules for gasoline vehicles

On the administrative side, President Doland Trump on Wednesday announced that he will be reducing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, “to levels that can actually be met with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles.” 

This means that the standard set by the Biden Administration to prevent pollution was “set at such aggressive levels” that it made the cost of vehicles expensive. And now, with more leniency, the Trump administration expects to save “American families $109 billion in total over the next five years.”

To combat rising inflation and ward off questions of affordability, the White House sees this new amendment as a way to reduce the costs of new cars and also “save more than 1,500 lives and prevent nearly a quarter-million serious injuries through 2050,” by enabling Americans to buy newer and safer vehicles.

Related: Tesla gives fans an early Christmas gift

According to the new plan, automakers will now have to achieve 34.5 miles per gallon for light-duty vehicles in the 2031 model year. This is down from the earlier standard of 50.4 miles per gallon, which Biden had set to increase fuel efficiency.

This comes after the EV credits expired on September 30, indicating a decline in sales for EV makers. But who is to say for consumers who are already accustomed to EVs and the support that comes with them? Or the manufacturers who are already rolling out plans for more advanced EVs and fully self-driving versions for the future.

Another factor to consider will be a significant increase in oil demand if consumers shift from EVs to gasoline vehicles. 

Talking about oil, it was up 0.8% on Wednesday.

Tesla, a major EV maker, saw its stock rise 4.1% intraday; however, it was down after hours. 

Jeans for the win: American Eagle tops

Retail stocks had a strong day, especially American Eagle, which gained momentum following a controversy surrounding actress Sydney Sweeney’s jeans commercial for the company. The retailer, with its stock up 15% on Wednesday, recorded a fresh high at $23.97. 

The stock surge followed as the company exceeded expectations with its Q3 earnings and an improved future outlook for Q4. 

The company reported a record $1.4 billion in total revenue, up 6%, and raised its operating income guidance to $155 million to $160 million, expecting comparable sales to grow 8% to 9%.

Related: Forget Palantir, another AI stock is up 180% in 2025