Market Commentary

For the week ending 1/30/2026

 

The last week of January turned out to be a roller coaster ride on Wall Street as both major indices and precious metals soared and then fell, and the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. 

The S&P 500 briefly crossed the 7,000 mark for the first time in history on January 28, though the week ended rather mixed, as investors weighed a wide variety of corporate earnings and outlooks from quarterly reports. The broad market index achieved a significant psychological milestone, hitting 7,000 during intraday trading on Wednesday. This record high followed a strong rally led by the technology sector, particularly companies involved in the AI infrastructure build-out. However, the index struggled to maintain this level, closing the week slightly lower. 

Precious Metals also surged to record highs amid equity market volatility and a weakened U.S. dollar. Gold and silver continued to see substantial gains. Gold hit an all-time high above $5,500 per troy ounce, recording its largest single-day dollar gain in history. Silver followed suit, soaring 10% in a single session to trade near $118 per ounce. A myriad of factors continue to drive this move, with an outsized focus on the broader debasement trade, US political uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and renewed US tariff threats.

On Friday, President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to become the next Federal Reserve Chairman. The U.S. dollar rose on the news, and precious metals fell significantly, as silver fell about 30% in its worst day since 1980.

Prior to that announcement, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to maintain the federal funds rate in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%, as was widely expected.

Market expectations for a rate cut have shifted toward mid-year (June), with many strategists now anticipating only one or two reductions in 2026.

Meanwhile, January’s consumer confidence report missed expectations and fell to its lowest level since 2014, as views on the labor market weakened sparking increased pessimism. However, weekly initial jobless claims were stable, and continuing claims are now the lowest level since September of 2024.

High-profile technology earnings dominated investor attention this week. Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla reported results on Wednesday. While all three companies reported solid fourth-quarter results, Microsoft saw its shares slide after its report, due to slightly underwhelming Azure cloud growth, along with increased expenses. Meta stock shot higher after not only exceeding expectations, but also significantly raising its revenues outlook for next quarter. Tesla’s mixed results emphasized its strategic shift from being an automaker, towards its autonomous Robotaxis, humanoid robots, and AI-driven systems. Apple reported results on Thursday which also beat expectations, led by “simply staggering” record-breaking iPhone sales. Overall, these four companies presented a strong start to earnings season.

On the political front, Senate Democrats and the Trump Administration struck a short-term spending deal, which will hopefully allow the government shutdown to be short. While the deal passed the Senate, the House won’t vote on this until early this week. 

Looking ahead to next week, we will see a lot of data on the labor market and another large wave of corporate earnings that will impact the market’s direction. 

 For the week, the Dow slid -0.4% to 48,892. S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6,939, and the Nasdaq fell -0.2% to 23,462. Oil rose +6.8% to $65.21/bbl. Gold fell -5.1% to $4,763/oz. and the yield on the Ten-Year Treasury remained unchanged at 4.24%. 

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