A worker shovels snow outside the New York Stock Exchange on Sunday.
U.S. stock futures slumped and gold hit a record high Sunday as investors look ahead to a Fed interest-rate decision and Big Tech earnings this week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00) were down about 120 points, or 0.3%, late Sunday, sharply paring earlier session lows. S&P 500 futures (ES00) dropped 0.2% and Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00) fell 0.4%, after Intel’s 17% plunge Friday.
Gold futures (GC00) topped $5,000 an ounce for the first time, rising as high as $5,074 on Sunday. Gold is up 17% year to date, and has surged 84% over the past year. Silver futures (SI00), which last week hit $100 an ounce for the first time, continued to surge Sunday. Silver has rallied more than 50% in 2026, and is up nearly 250% over the past year.
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) slumped over the weekend, and was last trading around $87,500. West Texas crude (CL.1), the U.S. benchmark, gained, and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, which compares the buck against a basket of rival currencies, declined 0.4% after the dollar lost 1.7% against the Japanese yen USDJPY on Friday
Stocks mostly gained Friday, but ended the week lower. The S&P 500 SPX dipped 0.4% on the week, while the Dow DJIA declined 0.5% and the Nasdaq COMP slipped 0.1%. All three benchmarks suffered their second straight weekly declines, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Fears of a partial federal shutdown were rising Sunday, as Democratic senators vowed to block the upcoming spending bill that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, amid growing outrage following the second shooting death of a civilian by federal agents in Minneapolis.
More: CEOs of Minnesota companies urge de-escalation after another person shot and killed by federal agents
In a tweet Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the situation in Minneapolis “appalling” and said Senate Democrats will vote against the appropriations bill to keep the government going past Jan. 30 if DHS funding is included in it. The legislation, which could be voted on this week, needs at least seven Democratic votes to pass.
The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate-setting committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell expected to speak after its conclusion. Most economists and investors are expecting the Fed to keep rates unchanged, with perhaps no more rate cuts until summer – or even later. While inflation remains sticky and the job market is stagnant, Fed officials reportedly worry that more rate cuts could drive up inflation.
Read more: The Fed is expected to stand pat this week. The big question is for how long?
Wednesday will also bring quarterly earnings reports for three of the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants: Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook parent Meta (META) and Tesla (TSLA). Apple (AAPL) will report earnings Thursday.
Big Tech weighs heavily on the S&P 500, and has helped drive strong gains for the overall market in recent years. But as AI infrastructure spending continues to rise sharply without showing big results – yet – investors are getting wary, and broadening their investments to non-tech sectors. That could be good news for the wider market, giving it more durability and making it less reliant on a handful of stocks.
The upcoming “Magnificent Seven” companies’ earnings will show how those industry leaders are faring amid that cyclical trading, with eyes particularly on Apple and Google parent Alphabet, which reports Feb. 4.
More: These 5 tech stocks could be big winners this earnings season
Last week, markets were roiled by tariff threats – and their subsequent retraction – from President Donald Trump against eight of America’s European allies who oppose his desire to acquire Greenland.
On Saturday, Trump again raised the specter of tariffs against a close ally, threatening Canada with new 100% levies if it goes ahead with a trade deal with China. “We can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the U.S,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”
But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday his country has no plans for a free-trade agreement with China, and said a recent deal with China merely resolved some tariff-quota issues between the two countries.
Furthermore, a little over a week ago, Trump said it was “OK” for Carney to sign a trade deal with China. “That’s what he should be doing. I mean, it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, he should do that,” Trump told White House reporters on Jan. 15.
-Mike Murphy
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