Wall Street Jitters Rise as Mixed Earnings and Fed Shakeup Spook Investors

Financial markets grew nervous this week, even as U.S. indexes touched brief historic highs. A string of poorly received corporate earnings reports, notably from Microsoft and Europe’s SAP, has unsettled investors.

High volatility is gripping commodity and currency markets, while inflation in the United States appears to be persistent. The appointment of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve in a few weeks could offer some support, but a lack of visibility is likely to continue as earnings season is far from over.

Winners and Losers of the Week

Winners

Seagate +17.8%: The data storage specialist surged after reporting better-than-expected results and a solid outlook, driven by demand from data centers and Artificial Intelligence. Other memory chip players, such as Sandisk, also performed well.

Royal Caribbean +13.47%: The cruise giant is riding high after posting strong results and a better-than-expected outlook for 2026, buoyed by continued robust demand. Strategic announcements, including a joint venture approval in Japan and new ship orders, also boosted the stock.

Southwest Airlines +13.28%: The airline climbed on a solid 2026 outlook, with management expressing confidence in the impact of its new product offerings, particularly among business customers. Several brokers remain positive, with potential for an upgrade to buy.

Texas Instruments +11.5%: The American group, known for its analog chips and embedded circuits, benefited from higher-than-expected forecasts, lifted by demand from AI data centers and signs of a recovery in the analog cycle.

Losers

UnitedHealth -19.46% (Humana -26.75%): U.S. health insurers were hit hard after Donald Trump announced a minimal increase in Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates for 2027. While the market anticipated a 5-6% rise, the Trump administration announced a hike of just 0.09%, forcing several companies to revise their forecasts downward.

Fresnillo -11.18%: The gold and silver mining group revised its 2026 production forecasts downward, despite having surpassed its 2025 gold extraction targets. The stock’s run-up in recent months has made investors justifiably demanding.

ServiceNow -12.1%: Shares of the American software publisher fell sharply late in the week amid renewed concerns about potential disruption from artificial intelligence. Despite posting convincing results, ServiceNow was particularly affected by this downtrend.

Microsoft -7.65%: Growth in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud division, slowed slightly quarter-over-quarter, dropping from 40% to 39%. While these results remain solid, the market is questioning future growth potential in a highly competitive sector.

Commodities

Energy: Oil closed out January on a very strong note, with Brent crude briefly surpassing the symbolic $70 per barrel mark, its highest level since last August. Brent is up about 14% since January 1, as is the U.S. benchmark, WTI, which is trading around $65 per barrel. The main driver of the rally is the deteriorating relationship between the United States and Iran. Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program, threatening military action. The deployment of U.S. ships in the region is fueling investor nervousness, with the primary risk centered on the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 million barrels of crude pass daily. Against this volatile backdrop, OPEC+ is set to meet this Sunday, with several delegates expecting the cartel to decide against increasing production in March.

Metals: After hitting historic highs on Thursday, copper, gold, and silver prices underwent a sharp correction on Friday. Investors took massive profits in response to a rebound in the U.S. dollar and shifting monetary expectations in the United States. Copper surpassed the $14,500 per tonne threshold for the first time on Thursday but reversed course on Friday, falling to $13,465. Gold reached a new all-time high of $5,595 per ounce before retreating 7% to trade around $5,030. The correction was more severe for silver, which plunged more than 16% to below $100 after hitting a record high of $121.65 per ounce. Donald Trump’s selection of Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve is seen by markets as a less dovish choice, supporting the dollar and weighing on metal prices.

Agricultural Products: The price of wheat continues to rise in Chicago. Low temperatures are threatening winter crops in Ukraine and the United States. In Russia, the world’s top exporter, poor weather conditions in Black Sea ports are hampering shipments and pushing up export prices. Wheat posted a solid performance over the week, trading around 542 cents (March 2026 contract).

Macro and Crypto

Macroeconomics: A rapid succession of events is roiling financial markets. Microsoft’s results were met with a cool reception, triggering a sharp drop in the stock market, while precious metals faced profit-taking after a bullish start to the year. Following the Fed’s decision to maintain the status quo, Donald Trump on Friday named Kevin Warsh as Jerome Powell’s successor. The dollar reacted positively to the appointment, while long-term interest rates eased slightly, though the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield remains above 4.20%.

Crypto: It was another tough week for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency leader has fallen nearly 5% since Monday, after already losing 7.5% the previous week, shedding more than $10,000 in value. On Thursday alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of over $817 million, their worst session since November 20. This weakness is largely due to an unfavorable macroeconomic environment, including renewed geopolitical tensions and fears of an AI bubble. Cryptocurrencies have historically thrived in low-interest-rate, low-risk environments. The downturn in Bitcoin has dragged the rest of the market with it. Ether (ETH) fell 2.5% to around $2,700, Solana (SOL) dropped 2% to $116, and XRP (XRP) declined 5% to about $1.76.

The Week Ahead

Volatility has returned to risk assets, from stocks to commodities and currencies. Mixed messages from corporate earnings, particularly around the profitability of AI investments, continue to drive significant swings in technology stocks. The appointment of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair was seen as a less extreme choice among the finalists.

Next week, earnings reports from Palantir, Walt Disney, AMD, Alphabet, Eli Lilly, Novartis, BNP Paribas, and Amazon will be in the spotlight.

The macroeconomic agenda will be dominated by the ECB’s interest rate decision on Thursday and the monthly U.S. employment figures on Friday.