US stocks gave up their early morning gains on Friday as uncertainty over the next Fed chair weighed on markets, while strong bank earnings and ongoing geopolitical tensions capped a volatile week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) pared earlier gains to fall below the flatline, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) nudged down 0.2% after stocks reversed a two-day losing streak on Thursday.
Stocks gave up earlier gains after President Trump expressed fresh reluctance to name Kevin Hassett as the next Fed chair, fueling speculation that the central bank may not be as dovish as the market expected once Jerome Powell steps down in May.
“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth,” he told Hassett at a White House event.
Wall Street is regrouping after a switchback week, marked by escalating Iran tensions, dispute over Greenland, and a criminal probe risking the Federal Reserve’s independence — all with Trump behind them. Investors have a long weekend to digest those events, as stock and bond markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
TSMC (TSM) and Nvidia (NVDA) eyed more gains, thanks in part to a US-Taiwan trade deal that promises a $250 billion boost to American chip and tech manufacturing. On Thursday, shares in TSMC popped following a strong quarterly report that revived AI enthusiasm to buoy related stocks more widely.
The highlights on Friday’s earnings docket were smaller banks such as PNC (PNC) and Regions Financial (RF), after a big week of upbeat reports from Wall Street majors. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) shares rose Thursday after posting profit gains, giving a lift to financial stocks.
Meanwhile, silver (SI=F) fell as the threat of US tariffs eased, but prices were still up more than 15% for the week after a long-lived blistering rally for precious metals.
LIVE 17 updates
-
Trump says he may use tariffs in pursuit of Greenland
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he may apply tariffs on countries “if they don’t go along” with his plan to acquire Greenland.
He made the comments at a White House event.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” said Trump.
Trump has stated in the past that the US should control Greenland, saying a negotiated deal would be “easier,” but also insisting the United States will get it “one way or the other.”
-
Homebuilder sentiment unexpectedly declines as affordability ‘takes a toll’
Homebuilder sentiment unexpectedly fell in January in a sign of a cooling housing market to start 2026 as affordability concerns remain top of mind for builders, buyers, and sellers.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined by two points to 37 in January. It marked the index’s first drop in five months and the 21st month the index has remained below the neutral reading of 50.
Economists were expecting homebuilder sentiment to tick up one point to 40.
“While the upper end of the housing market is holding steady, affordability conditions are taking a toll on the lower and mid-range sectors,” NAHB chairman Buddy Hughes said. “Buyers are concerned about high home prices and mortgage rates, with downpayments particularly challenging given elevated price to income ratios.”
Homebuilders have been trying to entice buyers by offering more sales incentives. According to the latest NAHB survey, 40% of builders reported cutting prices in January with an average price reduction of 6%, up from 5% price cuts in December.
Homebuilder stocks D.R. Horton (DHI), Lennar (LEN), and PulteGroup (PHM) slipped during afternoon trading Friday.
Read more here from Reuters.
-
Stocks turn negative after Trump hints he may not pick Kevin Hassett as next Fed Chair
Stocks erased gains by mid-morning on Friday and slipped into the red territory after President Trump expressed reluctance about naming Kevin Hassett as the next Fed chair.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) also swung from gains to losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 0.3%.
The drop came after President Trump said he’d like to keep Hassett as director of the National Economic Council rather than picking him to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when the central bank chair’s term ends in May.
“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said to Hassett during a White House event. “If I move him, these Fed guys — certainly the one we have now — they don’t talk much. I would lose you. It’s a serious concern to me.”
Hassett has been viewed as a top contender for the job, with the market anticipating a dovish Fed if Trump were to select him.
-
Spotify will net an eye-popping amount of money by raising prices again
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi writes:
Read the full story here.
-
Stocks climb at the open
US stocks climbed Friday to reverse or, at the very least, pare losses for the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.5%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added nearly 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) nudged up about 0.2% after stocks came back from a two-day losing streak on Thursday.
With Friday’s early gains, major indexes are set to see mixed results for the full week. The S&P 500 is roughly flat for the five trading sessions through Friday, the Nasdaq is off about 0.2%, and the Dow is eyeing a 0.2% gain.
-
State Street expands revenue, but earnings miss, sending the stock lower
A day after launching its institutional digital asset platform to push further into crypto, asset manager and custody bank State Street (STT) reported fourth quarter results that showed solid underlying trends.
But a repositioning charge weighed on earnings — and shares in premarket trading. State Street’s stock fell more than 2% ahead of the opening bell on Friday.
The asset manager reported rising revenue of $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by increased fee revenue and topping Wall Street analyst expectations for $3.6 billion in revenue, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Net interest income increased by 7% year over year.
State Street’s assets under custody increased 16% year over year to $53.8 trillion, primarily due to higher market levels and flows. Assets under management in the fourth quarter, meanwhile, increased 20% to $5.7 trillion.
However, net income of $747 million declined 5% year over year. State Street’s GAAP earnings per share of $2.42 missed expectations of $2.45 per share.
State Street’s overall expenses increased 12%, which the company largely attributed to a $226 million repositioning charge.
Read more coverage of corporate earnings here.
-
Morgan Stanley sees 70% surge for ASML shares in its bull case
Morgan Stanley has laid out its bullish case for ASML (ASML, ASML.AS), saying in the most optimistic scenario the stock has a 70% rally ahead as chipmakers ramp up spending to meet soaring AI demand.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
-
PNC Financial earnings beat revenue estimates
PNC Financial (PNC) stock rose 3% before the bell after reporting fourth quarter earnings on Friday. The bank’s earnings per share (EPS) came in at $4.88, beating analysts’ estimates of $4.19. Revenue for the quarter also topped estimates, coming in at $6.1 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of 5.95 billion.
Investing.com reports:
Read more here.
-
China’s $1.2 trillion windfall quietly seeps into global markets
Bloomberg reports:
A record trade surplus racked up by China is washing up around the world, as export earnings that once ended up in state coffers instead fund massive private purchases of overseas securities and business expansion abroad.
Rather than leaving most of last year’s $1.2 trillion windfall in the hands of the central bank, some two-thirds of the foreign assets sourced primarily from global trade ended up with companies, individuals and state lenders. That brings with it the risk of a sudden capital reversal that China doesn’t immediately control, especially in a world where the yuan is allowed to strengthen.
Investors comprising China’s so-called non-official sector saw their holdings of assets abroad soar by more than $1 trillion in the first three quarters of last year — according to the latest available data from China’s currency market regulator — more than double the annual average growth in the past decade.
Putting that money to work last year resulted in a $535 billion surge in Chinese private purchases of overseas securities like US stocks, European bonds and mutual funds, Bloomberg calculations show, though a more detailed geographical breakdown of the investments isn’t available. The increase through September outpaced any full-year increase over the past two decades and was far more than poured out of China in the form of direct investments used to build factories and warehouses or expand staffing abroad.
Read more here.
-
Premarket trending tickers: Micron, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, and Coupang
Micron (MU) shares edged higher by 6% in premarket. The rise follows the news that former TSM co-CEO Mark Liu had bought Micron stock. Micron’s director, Teyin Liu, also purchased 23.2K shares of common stock.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) stock fell 5% during premarket trading on Friday after reporting lower quarterly revenue. The logistics company said its cross-country shipments had declined.
Coupang (CPNG) stock rose 4% before the bell on Friday. The online retail giant was hit by a cyberattack at the end of last year, which forced its CEO to step down.
-
‘Real nightmare scenario’: How Nvidia’s China struggles could hurt its competitive edge
Nvidia’s (NVDA) China business continues to feel the strain despite President Trump allowing Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to Beijing; the AI heavyweight still grapples with geopolitical hurdles that could harm its competitive advantage.
Yahoo Finance’s Laura Bratton and Daniel Howley look at the latest problem to plague the Mag 7 giant.
Read more here.
-
Silver falls after US pauses tariffs, but still heads for hefty weekly gain
Silver dropped on Friday after the US held off from putting import tariffs on critical minerals, but was still up more than 15% for the week on surging demand for precious metals.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
-
Canada, breaking with US, agrees to cut tariff on Chinese EVs in return for lower tariffs
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Friday that Canada and China have reached a deal for Beijing to cut tariffs on its canola by March 1, in a sign that the countries’ trade rift, which disrupted crop flows, is starting to thaw.
In return, Canada agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs at a tariff of 6.1%, Carney said after talks with China’s leader, President Xi Jinping.
This is the first visit from a Canadian prime minister since 2017, as Canada seeks to build its strategic alliances with its second-largest trading partner after the US.
It is also a sign that China may start to rebuild some of its strategic allies, as well as a that Canada may be breaking from the US.
Bloomberg News reports:
Read more here.
-
Treasury market’s historic inertia is making investors anxious
Bloomberg reports:
The 10-year Treasury note’s (^TNX) yield is headed for a fifth straight week of minimal change, rivaling its longest stretch of inertia in the past two decades.
Since 2006, the median weekly range for 10-year yields has been 16 basis points. For the past five weeks, it’s been less than 10 basis points, the longest comparable stretch since 2020.
The trend — a function primarily of expected stability in US monetary policy — is stoking anxiety among bond-market investors because previous instances of constricted yield ranges have been followed by selloffs.
The 10-year note’s yield range of between 4.1% to 4.2% since mid-December has survived risk events including the December employment data, the US Justice Department’s actions against Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the prospect of American military action in Iran, Ian Lyngen, interest-rate strategist at BMO Capital Markets, observed in a report.
“Investors have been left to ponder what would be required to push 10-year yields to 4.25% or 4.05%,” Lyngen wrote.
Read more here.
-
Oil prices drop as reduced chances of US intervention in Iran’s attack on civilians lower global supply fears
Reuters reports:
Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Friday, extending losses from the previous session, as concerns about supply risks eased after the likelihood of a U.S. strike on Iran receded.
Brent (BZ=F) was down 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $63.55 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.04 per barrel at 0418 GMT.
Both Brent and WTI rose to multi-month highs this week after protests flared up in Iran and U.S. President Donald Trump signalled the potential for strikes on the nation. Brent prices were still set for a fourth week of gains.
Late on Thursday, however, Trump said Tehran’s crackdown on the protesters was easing, allaying worries about possible military action that could disrupt oil supplies.
Brent prices have given back earlier gains but remain higher than a week ago, with the decline in prices spurred by Trump’s statement that he would hold off on military strikes on Iran, BMI analysts said in a note.
Read more here.
-
Musk lawsuit against Open AI and Microsoft set to go to trial
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here,
-
Silver prices slip from record after critical minerals tariff walked back
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
