Confluent stock drifts after New Year’s open — the IBM deal deadline traders are watching
NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 15:58 ET — Market closed Confluent shares slipped 0.4% to $30.11 at Friday’s close, after trading between $30.09 and $30.30. Volume was about 29.4 million shares. The stock’s day-to-day move matters now mostly for takeover math, not fundamentals. Confluent is in a pending all-cash acquisition, and traders are watching how tightly the shares track the deal price. The broader market backdrop can still shift that spread. U.S. stocks opened 2026 with choppy trading as Treasury yields climbed, a mix that tends to pressure growth names and raise the return investors demand for waiting on cash