European stocks posted their biggest one-day gain in nearly two months last Thursday after US President Donald Trump canceled his threat to impose tariffs on several countries in Europe and ruled out the use of US military force to take over Greenland. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1% to 608.86 points.

European stocks ended the week past higher, while defense industry stocks fell after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resumption of Russian-Ukrainian talks. In particular, shares of Austrian bank Raiffeisen rose 6%, those of Wizz Air airline jumped 9%, and shares of Ukrainian mining company Ferrexpo soared, gaining 19%.

Global equity funds saw inflows fall sharply to $9.2 billion in the week that ended on January 21. Bond funds recorded inflows of $12.5 billion, while money market funds saw outflows of $35 billion.

Intel shares ended the week sharply lower, down 14%. The main reason for investor disappointment was supply constraints on data center chips, and this prevented the company from meeting high demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, Intel’s quarterly profit and revenue forecasts fell short of market expectations.

Shares of German AI developer SAP continued a months-long decline on July 21, reaching their lowest level since August 2024 and wiping $130 billion off last year’s record high market value. The decline is part of a broader sell-off in European and US software markets, fueled by concerns about potential disruptions in AI.

Shares of luxury clothing maker Moncler fell more than 1% last Wednesday after it became known that Bottega Veneta CEO Leo Rongone would replace Remo Ruffini as the company’s chief executive, while senior executive Roberto Eggs resigned.

Gold recorded a record 2.2% increase, crossing the $5,100 mark per ounce as central banks and investors sought safe assets amid geopolitical risks and market uncertainty created by Trump. Silver also rose a record 5.8% to above $110 an ounce.

It is no coincidence that the companies that recorded the biggest gains last week were all gold and silver mining companies. Of the companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, the gold mining company IAMGOLD Corporation recorded the biggest gain last week. Its shares rose by 22.02% in one week to $20.95 per share. Next was silver and precious metals mining corporation Hecla Mining Company, whose shares were up 19.86% to $31.81 per share. This trio concluded by silver mining and processing company First Majestic Silver Corp., whose shares were up 18.33% to $25.44 per share.

The top three largest-cap companies that lost the most last week starts off with AeroVironment, Inc., a developer of drones and defense technology, whose shares fell 21.66% in one week to $307.75 per share. Next was Roblox Corporation, a developer of online gaming platforms and virtual worlds, down 15.08% to $74.12 per share. This top three concluded with Figure Technology Solutions, Inc., a developer of digital financial services and lending technology, down 15.02% to $62.81 per share.

Consumer sentiment in the US improved overall in January, although concerns about high prices and the labor market persist. The Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 56.4 from an expected 54.0. At the same time, consumer expectations for inflation next year fell by 4.0%, reaching the lowest level since January 2025, and expectations for a five-year outlook fell by 3.3%.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its global economic growth forecast for 2026 to 3.3%, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous October forecast. The IMF emphasized that economic growth is supported by the easing of US tariffs and the ongoing investment boom in the AI sector, which is boosting productivity and asset values. For the US, economic growth in 2026 is estimated at 2.4%, for China—at 4.5%, and economic growth in the Eurozone is forecast at 1.3%. Global inflation is forecast to decline by 3.8% in 2026.

On Monday, 5 billion drams of government bonds were placed on Armenia’s stock market, and they will be redeemed on November 2. The public auction had four participants, whose total amount of bids was 19.7 billion drams. The weighted average price of the placed government bonds amounted to 94.8 drams, and the yield was 7.1 percent.

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