Global Highlights for Next Week: Google and Amazon Submit Their Reports, Non-Farm Payrolls Test the Strength of the US Economy

This week, the three major U.S. stock indices showed mixed performance. The Dow fell by a total of 0.42%, the S&P 500 rose by 0.34%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.17%.

The Dow’s decline was largely driven by a sharp drop in heavyweight stocks like Microsoft, which experienced slowing cloud business sales growth and announced a record-breaking capital expenditure plan. Looking ahead to next week, Microsoft’s cloud industry peers—Amazon and Google—will release their earnings reports.

Recently, financial markets have once again become nervous about U.S. tech giants, and investors are becoming more selective about who can truly stand out from the massive artificial intelligence (AI) spending, especially those popular stocks that previously surged on AI profit expectations.

Jim Baird, Chief Investment Officer of Plante Moran Financial Advisors, said, “Companies that have already been highly anticipated by the market now need to deliver real performance to prove themselves. Even if they achieve growth, if they fail to meet market expectations, their stock prices could be punished.”

Sid Vaidya, Chief Investment Strategist at TD Wealth, stated, “Although market reactions to some big tech earnings are mixed, one thing is confirmed—capital expenditures for building AI infrastructure will not slow down.”

Next week, several AI-related earnings reports are worth watching, including chip stocks like AMD, Qualcomm, Arm, and NXP, as well as software companies like Palantir. Pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will also release earnings, potentially providing new updates in the weight-loss field.

After the market close on Thursday, gold mining company Barrick Gold will announce its earnings. As the third-largest gold mining company in the world (after Newmont Mining and Agnico Eagle Mines), especially after a year of soaring precious metal prices, its profitability is worth paying attention to.

Speaking of gold, this past Friday, gold and silver prices experienced an “epic” plunge, causing nerves in the precious metals market to tighten. Before the sharp decline, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the nomination of former Federal Reserve Board member Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.

Some believe that Warsh, who has publicly criticized quantitative easing policies, might lead the Fed to adopt a more hawkish stance. Additionally, this nomination eased previous market concerns about the Fed’s independence and pushed the dollar higher, putting pressure on gold and silver.

It is still unclear when Warsh will make his first public appearance after being nominated. Some analysts suggest his first public speech or interview could significantly impact financial markets, with the focus on his views on U.S. employment, inflation, and current monetary policy.

Coinciding with the first Friday of each month, the U.S. Department of Labor will release the January employment report, known as the “Non-Farm Payrolls.” The forecast expects non-farm employment to increase by 64,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.4%.

Michael Reynolds, Vice President of Investment Strategy at Glenmede, said, “Due to last year’s U.S. government shutdown, we have lacked a clear view of the labor market and inflation conditions, so upcoming data may be more important than ever.”

Overview of Important Overseas Economic Events Next Week (Beijing Time):

Monday (February 2): Bank of Japan releases summary of January monetary policy meeting, Eurozone January Manufacturing PMI Final, US January S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Final, US January ISM Manufacturing PMI

Tuesday (February 3): Atlanta Fed President Bostic speaks, Reserve Bank of Australia announces interest rate decision and monetary policy statement, US December JOLTS job openings, Fed Governor Bostic speaks

Wednesday (February 4): Eurozone January Services PMI Final, Eurozone January CPI preliminary, US January ADP employment change, US January S&P Global Services PMI Final, US January ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI

Thursday (February 5): Bank of England interest rate decision, European Central Bank interest rate decision, Atlanta Fed President Bostic participates in monetary policy Q&A, US weekly initial unemployment claims through January 31

Friday (February 6): Bank of Canada Governor Macklem speaks, US January seasonally adjusted Non-Farm Payrolls, US February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index preliminary

Saturday (February 7): US weekly oil rig count through February 6

Sunday (February 8): Japan holds House of Representatives election

(Source: Cailian News)