Mon 9 Feb: After the Bell
Wall Street Builds on Bounce, Eyes Jobs and Inflation Data ...
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Good evening,
US equities extended their rebound on Monday, building on last week’s volatile close that saw the Dow break above 50,000 for the first time, as markets brace for a slate of earnings and key macro data. The Nasdaq Composite added ~1%, with investors still debating the disruptive impact of AI on software, highlighted by a sharp 20% drop in Monday.com, while broader tech staged a recovery, led by gains of more than 3% in Nvidia and AMD, a near-10% surge in Oracle, and a 2% rise in Microsoft.
Attention now turns to macro catalysts later in the week, with markets in wait-and-see mode ahead of the delayed January US jobs report on Wednesday and CPI on Friday, while precious metals extended Friday’s rebound, with silver jumping 8% to around $83 and gold rising 2% back above $5,000.
Japan held a snap general election yesterday, and PM Takaichi secured a landslide victory, giving her ruling coalition a strong supermajority in the lower house. The Nikkei 225 gained ~4%, and the ¥ appreciated 0.8% against the $ today.
Earnings: → It was a quiet start to the week for earnings. Italian bank UniCredit (mcap €118bn) reported record 2025 results with a €10.6bn net profit (+14% YoY) and raised its medium-term profit outlook, backed by strong earnings from strategic stakes and generous shareholder distributions. The stock climbed 6% in Milan to a record high on the better-than-expected results and positive guidance.
Central Banks: → ECB’s Lagarde reaffirmed that €-zone inflation is projected to stabilise around the ECB’s 2% target over the medium term, even after a temporary dip below target, and emphasised the ECB’s meeting-by-meeting, data-dependent approach to future policy decisions.
Corporate Deals:
→ De Beers, the Anglo American-controlled diamond group with major African operations, is likely to be sold to a public-private consortium, according to Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad, with Botswana’s government expected to increase its 15% stake. The sale process is well advanced and could be completed this year, despite a weakening global diamond market.
→ Private equity group Advent and FedEx agreed to acquire Polish parcel locker operator InPost in a €7.8bn takeover, offering €15.60/share, a 50% premium to early-January levels. The deal will see Advent and FedEx each take 37% stakes, with founder Rafał Brzoska retaining 16%, marking a return to private ownership less than four years after InPost’s €8bn IPO.
→ In the US oil & gas sector, Transocean (mcap $6.3bn) agreed to acquire Valaris (mcap $6bn) in a $5.8bn all-stock merger, creating an offshore drilling group with a combined enterprise value of $17bn and a fleet of 73 rigs. Valaris shareholders will own 47% of the combined company, with management targeting over $200mn in synergies as the deal positions the group to benefit from the offshore drilling upcycle. Valaris shares jumped 34% today.
→ In debt capital markets, Alphabet is accelerating its funding push for AI investment, lining up a rare 100-year (“century”) bond as part of its debut sterling issuance this week, alongside a $20bn dollar bond sale (upsized from $15bn on strong demand) and a planned Swiss franc deal. The move underscores Big Tech’s willingness to lock in long-dated funding to finance heavy AI capex, reviving an instrument typically seen only during ultra-low rate periods.
Day Ahead:
Data → US retail sales, ADP employment change; China CPI & PPI; Brazil CPI. Earnings → Coca-Cola, AstraZeneca, S&P Global, Gilead S, BP, Robinhood, Barclays, Spotify.
See you tomorrow.
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