PreferredAmong companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, the biggest gain last week was recorded by the American company Palantir Technologies, which is engaged in data analysis software, whose shares increased by 34.38% over the past business week; the price of one share reached $111.59. Next is Doximity. The shares of this company engaged in providing a professional medical network increased by 34.06% during the past business week, reaching $79.23. The top three are completed by Super Micro Computer, with an increase of 27.21%. The price of one share of this company, which produces data centers and develops cloud solutions, is $36.28.
The top three largest-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts with Skyworks Solutions. The semiconductor manufacturer's stock price fell 25.99% in a week and is now at $65.69. The Estée Lauder Companies is next. The American skincare company's stock price fell 22.05% to $65.03. The aforesaid top three is completed by Neurocrine Biosciences. The pharmaceutical company's stock price fell 19.23% to $122.62.
US stocks ended the passed week lower, weighed down by a weak jobs report, concerns about inflation and President Donald Trump's new tariffs, and disappointing earnings reports from technology companies. Investors are cautious and the market remains volatile. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.99% on Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.95%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.36%. European and global stocks also fell, with the STOXX 600 down 0.38% and the MSCI World Index down 0.70%.
Trump last week announced plans to impose new tariffs on a range of countries, further fueling fears of a trade war. Investors are worried that it could slow economic growth and affect global trade. In addition, major technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet reported weaker-than-expected earnings, raising concerns about slowing growth for these companies.
While stocks fell, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bonds rose 4.7 basis points to 4.485%. The yield on the 30-year bonds rose 3.9 basis points to 4.6856%, and the yield on the 2-year Treasury bonds rose 7.7 basis points to 4.285%, suggesting the Federal Reserve may hold off on cutting interest rates. The US dollar strengthened. The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of other national currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.36% to 108.05. Cryptocurrencies fell: Bitcoin down 0.86%, Ethereum down 3.73%. Gold prices rose to $2,860.18 per ounce as investors seek safe havens amid market uncertainty.
US stock futures rose on Monday, recovering from last week's losses. The reason was President Trump's announcement that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, aiming to protect American industry. After the US president's announcement, steel and aluminum prices rose sharply. The US Steel Corp. rose 15%, Alcoa Corp.—5%.
In the week preceding February 5, investors pulled $10.71 billion out of US stock funds, the biggest weekly outflow since December 18 and the fourth in five weeks, again driven by concerns about President Trump’s new tariffs on China and poor earnings from big tech companies. Meanwhile, some sector funds continued to attract funds for a third straight week. Financials stocks saw inflows of $1.01 billion, while consumer stocks saw inflows of $907 million.
Another effect of Trump's tariff policy is that hedge funds have been increasingly pulling out of global stock markets in the week leading up to February 3. They have sold stocks in most sectors except real estate. Real estate stocks are the only ones that hedge funds continue to buy, seeing them as a good bet in times of inflation because real estate values and rents tend to rise.
Amazon shares fell 4% on February 7 after the company announced plans to spend more than $100 billion on artificial intelligence (AI) this year. Investors are concerned about both the company's rising costs and weaker-than-expected sales forecasts.
Tesla shares have fallen more than 10% in the past week. The company’s shares fell 3.3% on February 7 alone, driven by an 11.5% drop in Tesla sales in China in January. Meanwhile, its Chinese rival BYD has seen sales rise 47%. Another problem is Tesla’s 32.6% drop in deliveries of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles since December. Tesla sales in Germany also hit their lowest level since 2021. Despite the latest drop, Tesla shares have risen 40% overall since the US presidential election in November 2024.
Uber shares rose 7% on February 7 after billionaire investor Bill Ackman revealed that his company had acquired 30.3 million shares of Uber since early January. Ackman believes Uber shares are undervalued, while he sees it as a high-quality business whose shares can be bought at a massive discount.
Shares of semiconductor maker Qualcomm fell about 5% on February 6 after the company issued a weak outlook for its patent licensing business. That overshadowed the company's strong quarterly sales and profit forecasts. Qualcomm warned that its licensing business, which accounted for 14.8% of its revenue, would not grow this year due to the expiration of a contract with Huawei.
AMD shares fell 8% after revenue from its AI chips was worse than expected. The company's data center revenue in the fourth quarter rose 69% to $3.9 billion, but fell short of expectations for $4.15 billion. This once again highlights the pressure of competition with Nvidia. AMD is winning in the processor market, but has problems in the graphics card market, where Nvidia is the leader.
Shares of Google’s parent company Alphabet fell 8% as investors worried about slowing cloud service growth and a $75 billion spending plan for 2025. Google Cloud sales grew 30%, less than expected, and high AI costs are scaring investors. The company is focusing on AI, but analysts say it's risky.
Palantir shares hit a new high last week, following strong 2025 predictions and an integration with Elon Musk’s xAI company’s chatbot, Grok. The company’s shares are up nearly 50% so far this year and 370% in the past year, driven by demand for its AI software.
Federal Reserve officials are cautious about cutting the refinancing rate despite solid US job growth. According to a report from the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate remained at 4% in January, and 143,000 new jobs were added, which is a smaller-than-expected gain, but a sign of a healthy labor market. However, inflation is still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Fed officials, including Adriana Kugler and Neel Kashkari, believe it’s wise to keep rates on hold for now and wait for more information, especially on the impact of Trump’s tariff policies. Some officials have suggested that if inflation improves and the labor market remains strong, the Federal Reserve could consider cutting rates later this year.
US consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell in February to its lowest point in seven months, while inflation expectations rose sharply. The consumer confidence index fell to 67.8 from 71.1 in January, and households now expect inflation to increase by 4.3% over the next year, the highest since November 2023.
The US trade deficit increased 24.7% to $98.4 billion in December, the highest since March 2022, and driven by record imports. Imports rose 3.5% to $364.9 billion, largely as businesses buy foreign goods such as metals and computers ahead of potential tariffs. Exports fell 2.6% to $266.5 billion. The widening trade gap is particularly large with China, Mexico and Canada, which have been targeted by President Trump’s tariffs.
Activity in the US services sector slowed in January. The PMI index fell to 52.8 from 54.0 in December. This was due to weaker demand, which helped reduce price pressures. New orders and employment in the services sector also showed signs of cooling.
Eurozone business activity rebounded in January after a two-month slump. The composite PMI rose to 50.2. This is slightly above the 50 mark, which is considered the dividing line between growth and reduction. Eurozone inflation rose to 2.5% in January, driven by higher energy costs, but core inflation remained stable at 2.7%. Despite the increase, the European Central Bank is expected to continue cutting its refinancing rate, possibly as early as March.
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