Weekly Market Movers — Key Highlights
  • Global equities rose, tracking gains in U.S. markets.
  • The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.5%–3.75% in its first 2026 meeting.
  • Mixed tech earnings drove volatility: Microsoft and Intel underperformed, while Meta and Apple outperformed.
  • Prices for gold and silver surged on safe-haven demand.
  • Oil prices increased due to fears of supply disruptions linked to rising geopolitical tensions.
  • President Trump threatened higher tariffs on Canada over its potential trade agreement with China.
  • India and the European Union signed a major trade agreement, creating a $27 trillion market.

Global equities rose over the week, closely tracking U.S. equity markets. Influenced by the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, major tech company earnings reports, and geopolitical factors. In its first meeting of 2026, the U.S. central bank held its key interest rate steady in the 3.5% to 3.75% range, balancing its twin mandates of managing inflation and encouraging growth. Mixed corporate earnings influenced market volatility, driven by the underperformance of Microsoft and Intel and the strong performance by Meta and Apple. Commodities’ prices surged with safe-haven demand for gold and silver and concerns of supply constraints for oil, due to growing concerns for geopolitical risks. The growing AI-driven demand for chips drove up South Korea’s Kospi due to the strong performance by Samsung and SK Hynix in the previous quarter. 

In global geopolitics, the growing fears of a U.S. government shutdown partially eased, after the White House and senate democrats negotiated a deal to fund the DHS for the two weeks. However, a shutdown is still possible. President Trump threatened to impose higher tariffs if Canada signs a trade agreement with China, followed up by the possible decertification of Canadian jets and a 50% aircraft tariff. India and the European Union signed a trade deal creating a $27 trillion market. President Trump urged Iran to engage in dialogue over its nuclear program, while also increasing the American military presence in the region. Israel and Hamas held the final exchange of captives, as the ceasefire agreement entered the second phase.

Global Updates
  • The MSCI All Country World Index rose earlier the week following strong earnings. However, global equities declined slightly later in the week, due to underwhelming earning reports and growing geopolitical confrontations. 
  • SAP reported growth in its fourth quarter operating profit of 2.6 billion euros on a revenue of 9.7 billion. However, the company’s weaker-than-expected 26% growth in its cloud contract backlog, which is expected to further decrease in 2026, disappointed investors.
  • Swiss multinational engineering group ABB reported a strong 36% jump in fourth quarter orders to $10.3 billion and a 13% higher revenue of $9.1 billion. ABB raised its dividend to 0.94 per share and $2 billion share buyback program.  
  • Deutsche Bank’s fourth-quarter net profits of 1.3 billion euros beat expectations, on a revenue of 7.73 billion euros. The bank also announced plans of a 1 billion euros share buyback program, as part of a 2.9 billion capital distribution package.
  • China has permitted its domestic companies to purchase H200 chips from Nvidia, which it had earlier blocked.
  • Samsung reported a record 200% growth in its fourth quarter profits of 20.1 trillion Korean won on a revenue of 93.8 trillion won ($65.58 billion). The company attributed its performance to strong demand for AI servers and a persistent memory chip shortage.
  • SK Hynix announced dividends of 1 trillion won, after reporting a record 19.17 trillion won profit on a 66% higher revenue of 32.827 trillion won in the fourth quarter. 
  • Spot Gold prices rose to a record high of $5,500 per ounce following the U.S. Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged.
  • Oil prices touched four-month highs due to a weak dollar and elevated supply concerns induced by the U.S. winter storm and the disruptions in Kazakhstan’s oil exports.
U.S. Equity
  • U.S. equity markets rose over the week, with the S&P 500 briefly crossing the 7,000 mark. The blue-chip Dow Jones index however fell over the week due to Microsoft’s underwhelming performance. 
  • The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10-2 this week, to keep its policy rate unchanged in the 3.5% to 3.75% range. The committee indicated an increased prioritization of the cooling job market over inflation risks in its future decisions. 
  • President Donald Trump has announced former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as his nomination for the next chair of the central bank
  • Microsoft reported a higher-than-expected adjusted EPS of $4.14 on a 16.7% annual growth in revenue to $81.27 billion for its fiscal second quarter. Microsoft issued guidance in the $80.65 billion to $81.75 billion range for its fiscal third-quarter revenue. The company reported a slight slowdown in cloud services revenue growth and a higher capital expenditure in the fiscal second quarter. 
  • Meta reported a higher-than-expected EPS of $8.88 on revenue of $59.9 billion, over the fourth quarter. Meta also reported a 24% growth in advertising revenue over the fourth quarter. The company anticipates a capital expenditure in the $115 billion to $135 billion range on AI in 2026.
  • Apple reported a higher-than-expected net income of $42.1 billion on a 16% higher revenue of 143.8 billion in the fiscal first quarter. Apple also estimated a 13% to 16% growth in revenue over the current quarter to the $107.8 billion-$110.66 billion range. 
  • Caterpillar reported an adjusted EPS of $5.16 on a 18% higher revenue of $19.1 billion over the fourth quarter, driven by the rising demand for machinery and equipment in the construction of AI data centers.
  • UnitedHealth reported an adjusted EPS of $2.11 on a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of $113.2 billion. The company’s stock had lagged earlier in the week following the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposal of raising Medicare Advantage payment rates by a lower-than-expected 0.09%.
  • Micron Technology announced its plan to invest $24 billion in a wafer fabrication facility in Singapore for which it has commenced due to the strong demand for its chips.
Fixed Income
  • The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index edged up over the week.
  • The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.269% and the yield on the 2-year note edged lower to 3.572% over the week.
  • The U.S. Dollar Index declined to 96.52 over the week, following the selloff in Japanese bond market and President Trump’s comments regarding strength of the dollar. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later denied the possibility of a Japanese Yen intervention by the U.S.

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