On Tuesday, the three major U.S. stock indices closed in negative territory, with the Nasdaq Composite Index nearly wiping out all its gains for the year. Bitcoin briefly fell below the $73,000 threshold, while Ethereum dropped to around $2,100. A partial U.S. government shutdown will prevent the January employment report from being released as scheduled this Friday.
By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by 166.67 points, or 0.34%, to settle at 49,240.99. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 336.92 points, or 1.43%, finishing at 23,255.19. The S&P 500 index declined by 58.63 points, or 0.84%, closing at 6,917.81. NVIDIA (NVDA.US) fell 2.8%, PayPal (PYPL.US) plummeted 20.3%, Oracle (ORCL.US) dropped over 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) declined nearly 3%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index decreased by 0.9%, with Alibaba (BABA.US) down 2.8%.
In European markets, Germany's DAX 30 index edged down 5.17 points, or 0.02%, to 24,779.75. The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 28.83 points, or 0.28%, to 10,312.73. France's CAC 40 index dipped 1.67 points, or 0.02%, to 8,179.50. The Euro Stoxx 50 index decreased by 13.65 points, or 0.23%, to 5,993.86. Spain's IBEX 35 index was virtually unchanged, adding a marginal 0.18 points to 18,103.88. Italy's FTSE MIB index surged by 860.08 points, or 1.89%, to 46,387.50.
Cryptocurrencies faced a sell-off, with Bitcoin briefly falling below the $73,000 level before rebounding to above $76,000. Ethereum hit an intraday low of $2,109.5 before recovering to above $2,200.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.21% on the day to settle at 97.434. By the close of New York forex trading, one euro could buy $1.1811, up from $1.1783 in the previous session. One pound sterling traded at $1.3684, higher than the previous $1.3651. One U.S. dollar bought 155.77 Japanese yen, up from 155.71 yen previously. It exchanged for 0.7756 Swiss francs, down from 0.7809, and for 1.3644 Canadian dollars, down from 1.3698. Against the Swedish krona, the dollar was at 8.9154, lower than the previous 8.9780.
Precious metal prices rebounded, with spot gold rising 6.2% to $4,946.54 per ounce. Spot silver climbed back above the $85 mark.
President Trump signed a funding bill to end the partial government shutdown. On February 3rd, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the government funding bill in the Oval Office, bringing an end to the partial government shutdown. Earlier that day, the House of Representatives voted to pass a funding bill for several federal departments for the remainder of the fiscal year, resolving the impasse that began on January 31st. The bill provides funding for several federal agencies until September 30th, the end of the fiscal year, and offers two weeks of funding for the Department of Homeland Security—which had been at the center of controversy and protests over recent immigration enforcement actions—to allow for continued negotiations on improving the department's operations.
NVIDIA's CEO stated that the widespread application of artificial intelligence will ultimately reduce energy costs. NVIDIA (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang remarked that the massive construction of AI computing infrastructure is currently straining power grids in many regions, but this will ultimately drive down energy costs. Huang indicated that increased investment in power supply and the application of AI technology in energy production and distribution will help lower long-term costs. He asserted, "This will definitely happen; energy costs will decline. Market forces are compelling us to increase investment in energy supply. Supply will increase, and we are also modernizing the power grid."
As the U.S. tightens visa policies, Alphabet plans a significant expansion of its operations in India. Alphabet (GOOG.US) is reportedly planning a major expansion of its footprint in India and is likely to lease millions of square feet of new office space in the tech hub of Bangalore. According to sources familiar with the matter, Google's parent company has leased one office building in Embassy City and secured options to purchase two additional buildings. Embassy City is a development in the Whitefield tech corridor spanning 2.4 million square feet. The first building is expected to open to employees in the coming months, while construction on the other two is set for completion next year. Insiders suggest that if Alphabet utilizes all the office space, the campus could accommodate up to 20,000 additional employees, potentially more than doubling the company's operational scale in India. Alphabet currently employs approximately 14,000 people in India, with a global workforce of around 190,000.
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery are set to testify before a U.S. Senate committee regarding their deal. Netflix (NFLX.US) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.US) will testify before a skeptical Senate committee on Tuesday to defend their $82.7 billion merger against allegations that it would harm competition in the streaming market. It is reported that bidding competitor Paramount Skydance will not attend the hearing. The company's Chairman and CEO, David Ellison, declined an invitation to testify last week.
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