Weekly Market Movers — Key Highlights
  • Global equities pulled back as technology stocks weighed on major indices, while 
  • The dollar strengthened on solid U.S. data. 
  • Silver outperformed gold following a sharp earlier decline. 
  • President Donald Trump signed a $1.2 trillion government funding bill to end the partial government shutdown
  • The ECB and BoE held rates steady at 2% and 3.75%, respectively.
  • Amazon and Alphabet shares slid after projecting increased capex in 2026.
  • Technology stocks were weighed down by the release of Anthropic’s AI tool.

Global equities detracted with technology names driving a broad pullback across major U.S. benchmarks. The dollar strengthened following fresh U.S. economic data, while in precious metals, silver outperformed gold as it rebounded from its recent sharp decline. President Donald Trump signed a $1.2 trillion government funding bill to formally end the partial government shutdown and reopen federal agencies. Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair impacted investor sentiments. The release of Anthropic’s AI assistant and projections of increased capital expenditures on AI infrastructure has weighed on technology stocks. In global geopolitics, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat. The US demanded a total freeze on uranium enrichment, while Iran insisted on the removal of American military assets from the region.

Global Updates
  • The MSCI All Country World Index declined as investors pulled back from technology stocks and re‑evaluated company valuations after several years of strong growth. 
  • The European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2% on Thursday, while the Bank of England also held steady, maintaining its policy rate at 3.75%.
  • Rheinmetall shares fell after the company signaled weaker‑than‑expected preliminary guidance for 2026 during a call with investors and analysts.
  • Volvo shares plummeted after fourth‑quarter operating income plunged 68% to about $200 million, dragged down by tariffs, weak demand, and currency headwinds.
  • Shell shares slipped after fourth‑quarter adjusted earnings came in at $3.26 billion, missing the $3.53 billion analyst forecast amid weaker crude prices.
  • Toyota appointed its CFO Kenta Kon — a close ally of Chairman Akio Toyoda — as its next CEO, as the automaker faces intensifying competition from rapidly advancing Chinese rivals.
  • German exports rose 4% in December from the prior month, outperforming expectations for a 1% increase.
  • British house prices rose 0.7% in January, signaling a housing‑market rebound after December’s 0.5% decline and November’s budget measures.
  • A subsidiary of Chinese lithium-ion battery maker Sunwoda Electronic subsidiary has reached a settlement with Geely’s battery unit Vremt, which had sued over defective battery cells.
  • Chinese automaker Seres that its Aito EV brand has signed a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi‑based Performance Plus Motors to support its expansion into the Middle East.
U.S. Equity
  • U.S. equity markets declined the week, indicated by the fall in the broader market indices. The S&P, Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow Jones index declined over the week due to a mix of disappointing big tech corporate earnings, projections of large capital expenditures in 2026, Anthropic’s AI tool, and market reactions to U.S. politics and macroeconomic indicators. 
  • President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair. Markets reacted adversely to Warsh’s hawkish stance which weighed on equity markets while strengthening the US Dollar and Treasury yields.
  • The Challenger, Gray & Christmas jobless claims data, rose to an larger-than-expected 231,000 for the week ending January 31. The 108,000 layoffs in January also lowered investor sentiment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics rescheduled the release of the US jobs report to 11th February due to the government shutdown. The U.S. job openings are estimated to have declined to 6.54 million in December, the loss in five years. 
  • Investors’ concerns of increased capital expenditure by Alphabet in the $175 billion to $185 billion range on AI in 2026 (nearly double the capex in 2025), led to a decline in the company’s stock price. Alphabet posted a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of $113.83 billion driven by strong revenue from its cloud division ($17.66 billion) and youtube advertising ($11.38 billion). 
  • Qualcomm reported a 5% annual growth in its fiscal first-quarter sales revenue to $12.25 billion, with an adjusted EPS of $3.50. However, the projected lower-than-expected sales revenue of $10.2 billion to $11 billion in the second quarter, with an adjusted EPS in the $2.45 to $2.65 range disappointed investors. 
  • Amazon posted a lower-than-expected EPS of $1.95 in the fourth quarter on revenue of $213.39 billion, driven by a strong 24% growth in its Amazon Web Services revenue to $35.58 billion and advertising revenue of $21.32 billion. Stock price declined due to weak earnings and a projected capital expenditure of $200 billion in 2026 on AI infrastructure. 
  • The release of Anthropic’s AI tool to manage complex workflows in legal research and analytics, led to a selloff in technology stocks this week including Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, LegalZoom, etc. 
  • Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is considering the construction of affordable housing, under a plan pitched by Lennar and Taylor Morrison Home Corp.
  • Eli Lilly stock price rose after posting profit per share of $7.54 on a revenue of $19.3 billion. Eli also projected 25% higher revenue in 2026 and a profit per share in the $33.50 – $35 range.
Fixed Income
  • The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index edged up over the week.
  • The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield edged lower to 4.21% and the yield on the 2-year note declined to 3.483% over the week.
  • The U.S. Dollar Index rose slightly to 97.84 over the week, primarily due to a risk of rotation into safe-haven assets and the nomination of a new Federal Reserve Chair along with a depreciation of the Japanese Yen.

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