By Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit
Jan 26 (Reuters) – Wall Street indexes advanced in broad gains on Monday, as investors braced for a packed week of big tech earnings and a closely watched Federal Reserve policy decision.
Gold vaulted to a record high above $5,000 an ounce, boosting U.S.-listed shares of gold miners. Gold Fields was up 7%, while Harmony Gold and Newmont gained over 2% each.
With silver also trading at all-time highs, uncertainty lingered even as equities tried to find their footing. The S&P 500 materials index added 0.7%.
“As long as fiscal dominance, geopolitical fragmentation and central bank credibility remain in question, precious metals are likely to stay at the center of this perfect storm, not just as hedges, but as alternatives,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Airlines stocks dropped due to mass disruptions in flight schedules after a massive winter storm hit the eastern United States. United Airlines and Delta Airlines down over 1% each.
Stocks clawed back some losses last week after Trump dialed down tariff threats against the European Union over the Greenland dispute, but all three major indexes still finished the week lower.
At 09:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 202.16 points, or 0.45%, the S&P 500 gained 27.12 points, or 0.39%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 51.83 points, or 0.23%.
MAG 7: THE NEXT STRESS TEST
Earnings ramp up this week, with 102 companies of the S&P 500 scheduled to report. Four members of the “Magnificent 7” – Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Tesla – will post their quarterly earnings results.
Investors will look for signs of measurable payoffs from AI spending. With concerns over high valuations in the tech space, guidance will be especially important and even a modest stumble could spark a rethink about the AI trade.
Of the 64 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings as of Friday, 79.7% beat analyst expectations, as per LSEG data.
Intel shares were down 4.3%, following a sharp selloff on Friday, its steepest drop in nearly 18 months after it forecast quarterly profit and revenue below estimates.
FEDERAL RESERVE RATE DECISION
The U.S. central bank begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday, with investors broadly expecting officials to hold rates steady.
However, the meeting will likely be overshadowed by concerns over threats to the central bank’s independence given the backdrop of a Department of Justice probe on Chair Jerome Powell this month. Trump had recently said a decision on a nominee for the next Chair could come soon.
The risk of a partial U.S. government shutdown is also on the horizon ahead of the January 30 funding deadline, as a second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis sharpens scrutiny of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said his party would oppose legislation that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Shares of USA Rare Earth jumped 20% after reports the U.S. administration was taking a 10% stake in the miner as part of a $1.6 billion debt-and-equity investment package.
Among other stock moves, CoreWeave jumped 16% after Nvidia said it would invest $2 billion in the cloud infrastructure firm.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.94-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 21 new lows.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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