PreferredAmong companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, the biggest gainer last week was the American software company Atlassian Corporation, whose shares rose by 15.85% over the past business week. The price of one share reached $306.78. Next is Royal Caribbean Cruises. The shares of this cruise service company rose by 14.86% over the past business week, reaching $266.60. And the top three are rounded out by International Business Machines (IBM), which has grown by 13.75%. The price of one share of this company developing computer solutions is $255.70.
The top three largest-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts with Manhattan Associates. The share price of this company, which provides software for commercial solutions, fell 27.92% in a week and is now at $208.59. Next is Vertiv Holdings. The share price of this American company developing energy-efficient systems solutions fell 20.02% to $117.02. The top three are rounded out by Comfort Systems USA. This construction company’s share price fell 19.74% to $436.75.
Global markets, including in Europe and Asia, fell Monday amid fears of a global trade war after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on imports from China. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.4%, with auto and technology stocks the hardest hit. European luxury brands such as LVMH and Kering, which are dependent on China, also fell. Experts warn that if trade tensions continue, it could hurt profits, increase costs and fuel inflation, including slowing economic growth and rising inflation in the US.
Fears of a global trade war also weighed on US stock markets. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.7%, Dow Jones futures (YM=F) fell 1.3%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose 1.5%. Small companies and technology stocks were hit hardest. Major automakers such as Ford and General Motors also saw their stocks drop. The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB) rose 1% to a two-year high. Experts warn that the ongoing tensions could reduce earnings growth for S&P 500 companies by 2% to 3%. Investors are now preferring safer assets, which has led to a decline in US Treasury bond yields, as well as a decline in stocks related to cryptocurrencies—including Bitcoin and Ethereum).
Apple shares rose 2% on hopes of a rebound in iPhone sales. Apple, already the world’s most valuable company at $3.573 trillion, expects to add more than $81 billion to its market value this quarter—if profits hold up. However, China remains a major challenge for the company. Apple’s sales in China fell 11% at the end of 2024 as local companies like Huawei gain ground. Another challenge is the slow integration of artificial intelligence (AI)—although Apple has made recent updates, such as adding ChatGPT integration to the iPhone 16, which has helped ease investor concerns.
Tesla shares rose more than 2% after Elon Musk promised to launch more affordable electric vehicles in the first half of 2025 and begin testing a self-driving service in June. The news helped investors overlook Tesla’s weak fourth-quarter results, which showed lower revenue due to slower model updates and increased competition. However, the company expects growth in its car business in 2025. Tesla’s focus is shifting from being just a car company to a broader business that includes AI and robotics. The company’s shares have risen on optimism about its self-driving car plans, especially potential regulatory support from the US government.
Last week, the stock market was shaken by the Chinese startup DeepSeek, which revealed its highly efficient open AI model. This raised concerns that this cost-effective, low-cost AI model could reduce demand for high-end hardware and investment in AI infrastructure by American companies. How DeepSeek has affected major American technology companies. Nvidia (NVDA), a major AI infrastructure player, has been hit hard. The company's share price fell 17% last Monday. The company's market value fell by almost $590 billion, the largest loss in history for a single company. There are concerns that DeepSeek's efficient model could reduce demand for Nvidia's expensive chips. Despite some recovery during the week, Nvidia closed the week down 16%. Meta Platforms (META) was one of the few companies whose shares rose amid the turmoil, rising 6.4% last week. The company was helped by CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s emphasis that Meta is focused on open-source AI models. Meta’s earnings report was also positive, which also helped boost investor confidence. ServiceNow (NOW) had a volatile week, ending the week down 1%, but had earlier in the week gained 4% on optimism that DeepSeek’s more efficient AI model could reduce computing costs and increase demand for its software products. However, the company’s disappointing quarterly results on Wednesday sent its shares down 11%.
On Monday, 5 billion drams of government bonds were placed in Armenia’s stock market, which will be redeemed on February 2, 2026. The respective public auction had three participants, and the total of bids submitted by them amounted to 17.532 billion drams. The distributed average price of the placed government bonds was 92.0388 drams, and the yield was 8.5783 percent.
On January 30, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its refinancing rate by 0.25%, the fifth cut since June 2024, bringing the ECB's main interest rate to 2.75%. The ECB's decision reflects growing concerns about weak economic growth and persistent inflation. Also, the ECB left the door open for further rate cuts, as markets expect two to three more cuts this year.
The US Federal Reserve has decided to leave the refinancing rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.50%. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell announced that they are in no hurry to continue reducing interest rates until inflation and employment data show that this is necessary. Inflation in the US remains high, but it has stabilized recently, and the labor market remains strong with low unemployment. Also, the Federal Reserve is waiting for clarification of President Trump's administration's policies on issues such as immigration, tariffs and taxes, which could affect the economy.
The US Department of Commerce later released its inflation report. Accordingly, US inflation rose the most in eight months in December 2024, driven by strong consumer spending. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% in December, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.6%. Core inflation—which excludes food and energy—also rose 2.8% year-on-year, suggesting that inflationary pressures have not eased significantly in recent months. Despite this, consumer spending remained steady, rising 0.7% in December, with increases particularly strong in goods such as automobiles, food, and gasoline, as well as in services such as housing and health care. This strong consumer spending has helped sustain economic growth. Following the release of this report, economists expect the Federal Reserve to delay cutting interest rates until at least mid-2025, as inflation still exceeds their 2% target and there are concerns about the potential inflationary consequences of new policies under President Trump.
US consumer confidence fell for the second consecutive month in January. According to the Conference Board, the consumer confidence index for December was revised down to 104.1 from 109.5. This decline was due to growing concerns about the labor market and inflation. In particular, economists' forecasts for the labor market worsened for the first time since September, and assessments of business conditions weakened for the second consecutive month.
The US economy grew at a slower pace in the final quarter of 2024, slowing to an annualized 2.3% from 3.1% in the previous quarter. The slowdown was driven by factors such as the Boeing workers’ strike, which hurt business investment and forced companies to stockpile fewer goods. However, consumer spending rose 4.2%, the fastest pace in nearly a year. People bought more goods ahead of expected tariffs, and higher wages and low unemployment also helped. Overall, the US economy grew 2.8% in 2024, down slightly from 2.9% in 2023, which is above the rate of growth the Federal Reserve considers healthy.
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