OPENING CALL
Stocks looked set to close the week on a low, with futures in New York in decline after Thursday's session was weighed down by tech concerns.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were on track for monthly losses as investors pulled back from risk. Traders reacted negatively to Nvidia's earnings as worries about the delicate artificial-intelligence ecosystem troubled tech investors.
The market's response to Nvidia's spending commitments suggests enthusiasm for AI stocks is wearing out , Swissquote said. Plans that would have been considered bullish a year ago don't evoke such confidence.
"Today, the interpretation has flipped on fears that AI capex could slow and leave Nvidia with excess capacity. This looks like peak-cycle behavior."
As the market digests the week's corporate earnings, investors are set to receive a clue later about where prices are headed when January wholesale inflation figures are released Friday.
Economists expect wholesale inflation rose 0.3% in January, compared with 0.5% in December.
It comes as Paramount won the bidding war for Warner Discovery Thursday when Warner said it determined Paramount's $31-per-share offer for the entire company was superior to Netflix's offer.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Iranian envoys are expected to resume talks in Vienna next week after negotiations came to an end in Geneva.
Stocks to Watch
Block shares gained 19%. The company said it has plans to lay off 40% of its workforce.
Dell shares were up nearly 11% after the company said its fourth-quarter sales rose 39% .
Intuit shares fell 3.8% after the company's profit guidance for the fiscal third quarter came in short of expectations.
Netflix surged 7.5% following the streaming company's decision to pull out of a bidding war with Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance jumped 8.4%, while Warner Bros. Discovery slipped 2.2%.
Watch For:
U.S. Producer Price Index for January, Canada GDP
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- The Spectacular MAGA Breakup Rocking Georgia
- OPEC+ Expected to Resume Output Hikes at Sunday Meeting
- Tech Has Never Caused a Job Apocalypse. Don't Bet on It Now.
MARKET WRAPS
Forex:
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies as tensions between the U.S. and Iran and tariff uncertainty left investors cautious. Falls are limited as a drop in U.S. tech stocks stokes risk aversion.
Sterling declined to a 10-week low against the euro after the U.K.'s ruling Labour Party lost a one-off special district election, raising fresh concerns about a leadership challenge for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Bitcoin rose marginally but continues to struggle for a meaningful recovery after U.S. stocks closed mostly lower overnight.
"The upbeat earnings and outlook from Nvidia failed to ease market concerns," Jefferies said
Bonds:
Falls in U.S. Treasury yields
accelerated in European trade amid geopolitical risks and expectations of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
"Confirmation of easing inflation would reinforce the downward bias in yields and weigh further on the dollar," Exness said.
Barclays maintains longs in three-year U.S. Treasurys as rates markets are now pricing in rate cuts to continue into 2027. The bank also continues to expect the three- and 30-year Treasury yield curve to steepen.
"We maintain these views as the terminal rate of the easing cycle has room to move lower."
Energy:
Oil prices rose as investors digested news that the U.S. and Iran will resume discussions next week after the latest round of talks wrapped up on Thursday without a deal.
Metals:
Gold prices were broadly steady in early trading, but were headed for a weekly gain of nearly 4% on news that the U.S. and Iran will continue discussions next week.
"Gold's role as a hedge against geopolitical and policy shocks is once again in focus," ING said.
Spot gold prices edged higher and Comex gold futures' bullish momentum was likely to follow through in coming sessions, according to RHB Retail Research.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Swiss Re Shares Jump After Reinsurer Tops Up Returns With $1 Billion Buyback
Swiss Re's shares traded higher after the reinsurer paired its quarterly results with a surprise $1 billion share buyback, signaling a more aggressive stance on capital returns.
The Zurich-based group on Friday said that it would repurchase $1.5 billion of its own shares over the course of the year. The program includes the introduction of a recurring annual $500 million buyback as announced late last year, plus the $1 billion top up.
Anthropic Refuses Pentagon's Proposal to Loosen AI Guardrails
Anthropic said it wouldn't back down in a dispute with the Defense Department over artificial-intelligence guardrails, complicating efforts to reach a compromise ahead of a Friday deadline.
In a Tuesday meeting at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei until 5:01 p.m. Friday to agree to the military's right to use the technology in all lawful cases. If Anthropic declines, Hegseth has threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to make the company do what the military wants, or to designate the company a supply-chain risk, impairing its ability to work with other government contractors.
Japan Government to Become Top Shareholder in Chip Maker Rapidus
Japan's government is tightening its grip on the nation's fledgling semiconductor industry, unveiling a funding structure under which it could take a stake of over 50% in Rapidus, the country's bet on advanced chip making.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry, said Friday that the government has invested 100 billion yen, or about $640 million, in the chip maker. It has voting rights of 11.5% but with the option to boost that to more than 50% if Rapidus runs into any financial or operational problems.
OpenAI Tightens Protocol for Referring Accounts to Law Enforcement
OTTAWA-OpenAI made a series of pledges Thursday to Canadian officials to bolster safety protocols following the fatal shooting in British Columbia in which the suspect interacted with OpenAI's chatbot.
The artificial-intelligence company said in a letter to Canada's minister responsible for AI, Evan Solomon, that it is implementing more flexible criteria for referring accounts to law enforcement agencies. The company said it would also establish direct points of contact with Canadian law-enforcement officials, help direct users in distress to relevant support agencies and toughen its detection system to prevent attempts to evade safeguards.
AI Crushed Software Stocks. Now It's Saving Them.
For weeks, it looked like nothing would stop Wall Street's bloodletting of software companies.
In the end, it took a top artificial-intelligence startup to halt a market panic that has tanked the value of software vendors by hundreds of billions of dollars.
China Moves to Tame Yuan Rally by Slashing Shorting Costs
China's central bank has started taking steps to check the yuan's recent advance, dusting off an old playbook that would reduce the cost of betting against the currency.
The People's Bank of China announced it would slash the risk reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions conducting foreign-exchange forward trading to zero from 20%, a move that effectively makes purchasing the dollar cheaper.
U.K. Consumer Mood Darkens Amid Lingering Cost-Of-Living Squeeze
U.K. consumer sentiment fell unexpectedly in February as cost-of-living pressures continue to weigh on households.
Consumer confidence fell three points to minus 19 in the month, according to research group GfK's index, published with the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions on Friday.
Pakistan Declares 'Open War' With Afghanistan After Cross-Border Attacks
A long-running conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban regime has turned into what Pakistan declared Friday to be "open war," with attacks reported in Kabul and along the neighbors' shared border.
"Our patience has run out and now there is an open war between us," Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in a social-media post.
U.K. Prime Minister Starmer Suffers Another Setback With Local Election
LONDON-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's loosening grip on power took another blow on Friday after the Green Party won a special district election in which his ruling Labour Party fell to a distant third.
The result in Gorton and Denton, a working-class area near Manchester that Labour has held since the 1930s, shows how Britain's political spectrum is rapidly splintering as voters look to populist parties on both the left and right as a salve to a continuing affordability crisis. It will heap pressure on Starmer to swing his party to the left to shore up its working-class base and likely energize calls internally for him to be replaced.
Pentagon Shoots 'Seemingly Threatening' Drone in Texas, Leading to FAA Restrictions
The Pentagon said it shot down a "seemingly threatening" drone near the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, prompting aviation officials to expand flight restrictions around an area of Fort Hancock, Texas.
Democratic lawmakers said the U.S. shot down one of its own drones.
Columbia University Student Is Released Hours After ICE Arrest
Elmina Aghayeva, the Columbia University student who was detained by federal immigration officials early Thursday, has been released, according to the school.
"The University is relieved and thrilled that our student, Ellie, has been released from detainment," Columbia said on social media.
Write to pierre.bertrand@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
AtkinsRealis 4Q
Boralex 4Q
Docebo Inc. 4Q
Energy Fuels 4Q
Ensign Services 4Q
TransAlta Corp. 4Q
Economic Indicators $(ET)$:
0830 Quarterly GDP figures for 4Q
0830 GDP figures for December
Stocks to Watch:
Black Diamond Group 4Q EPS C$0.11; 4Q Rev C$144M; 4Q FFO C$0.57/Shr
Chartwell Retirement 4Q FFO C$0.26/Shr; 4Q Property Rev C$292.3M; 4Q Net C$7.24M
Pason Systems 4Q CAPEX CAD 12M; 4Q Adj EBITDA CAD 38.1M; FactSet Est. CAD 34M; 4Q Revenue CAD 108.7M; 4Q Net Income CAD 8.11M; 4Q Funds Flow from Operations CAD 8.34M; 4Q Free Cash Flow CAD 16.1M
Zentek Plans to Advance Albany Graphite Toward New Preliminary Economic Assessment; 'Actively Engaged With All Levels of Government to Advance Its Project and Secure Non-Dilutive Funding'
Aura Minerals 4Q Adj EBITDA $207.9M; 4Q Gross Profit $202.9M; 4Q Net Loss $19.9M; 4Q Revenue $321.7M; 4Q Adj EBITDA Margin 65%; 4Q Adj Net Income $73.3M; 4Q Adj Net Income $73.3M; Declares Dividend of 66c
OpenAI Tells Canada It Will Strengthen Safety Protocols After Mass Shooting Left Eight Dead
British Columbia Premier to Meet OpenAI CEO About Fatal School Shooting
Expected Major Events for Friday
00:01/UK: Feb UK Consumer Confidence Survey
00:01/UK: Jan UK monthly automotive manufacturing figures
01:00/JPN: Jan Steel Imports & Exports Statistics
04:30/JPN: Jan Preliminary Report on Petroleum Statistics
05:00/JPN: Jan Construction Orders
05:00/JPN: Jan Housing Starts
07:00/GER: Jan Foreign trade price indices
07:45/FRA: Jan PPI
07:45/FRA: Jan Household consumption expenditure in manufactured goods
07:45/FRA: Feb Provisional CPI
07:45/FRA: 4Q GDP - detailed figures
07:45/FRA: 4Q Job creation
08:55/GER: Feb Labour market statistics (incl unemployment)
09:00/ITA: Dec Industrial turnover
09:00/GER: Feb Bavaria CPI
09:00/GER: Feb North Rhine Westphalia CPI
09:00/GER: Feb Saxony CPI
09:00/GER: Feb Brandenburg CPI
09:00/GER: Feb Hesse CPI
09:00/GER: Feb Baden-Wuerttemberg CPI
10:00/ITA: Jan Foreign Trade non-EU
13:00/GER: Feb Provisional CPI
13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves
13:30/US: Jan PPI
13:30/US: Jan Advance Economic Indicators Report - To Be Rescheduled
13:30/CAN: Dec GDP
13:30/CAN: 4Q Quarterly GDP
14:45/US: Feb Chicago Business Barometer - ISM-Chicago Business Survey - Chicago PMI
20:00/US: Jan Agricultural Prices
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Expected Earnings for Friday
1stdibscom Inc $(DIBS)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
AES Corp $(AES)$ is expected to report $-0.03 for 4Q.
ALX Oncology Holdings Inc (ALXO) is expected to report $-0.38 for 4Q.
ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc $(ANIP)$ is expected to report $0.69 for 4Q.
Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (AMR) is expected to report $-0.79 for 4Q.
Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc $(AMRX)$ is expected to report $0.07 for 4Q.
Arbor Realty Trust Inc $(ABR)$ is expected to report $0.07 for 4Q.
AtkinsRealis Group Inc (ATRL.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Biglari Holdings Inc (BH) is expected to report $-1.65 for 4Q.
BlackRock TCP Capital Corp $(TCPC)$ is expected to report $0.16 for 4Q.
Boralex Inc - Class A (BLX.T,BRLXF) is expected to report $0.19 for 4Q.
BrightSpring Health Services Inc $(BTSG)$ is expected to report $0.30 for 4Q.
Calumet Inc $(CLMT)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Carter's Inc $(CRI)$ is expected to report $1.71 for 4Q.
Chart Industries Inc $(GTLS)$ is expected to report $2.77 for 4Q.
Delek Logistics Partners LP (DKL) is expected to report $1.26 for 4Q.
Delek US Holdings Inc (DK) is expected to report $-0.17 for 4Q.
Docebo Inc (DCBO.T) is expected to report $0.43 for 4Q.
Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.T,EXK) is expected to report $0.12 for 4Q.
Escalade Inc (ESCA) is expected to report for 4Q.
Fulgent Genetics Inc (FLGT) is expected to report $-0.25 for 4Q.
Global Partners LP $(GLP)$ is expected to report $0.60 for 4Q.
Gogo Inc $(GOGO)$ is expected to report $0.02 for 4Q.
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc $(HE)$ is expected to report $0.38 for 4Q.
IGC Pharma Inc (IGC) is expected to report for 4Q.
Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB.T,LRCDF) is expected to report $0.66 for 1Q.
Legence Corp $(LGN)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Lifecore Biomedical Inc (LFCR) is expected to report $0.16 for 2Q.
NIQ Global Intelligence PLC (NIQ) is expected to report for 4Q.
Natural Resource Partners LP $(NRP)$ is expected to report $1.30 for 4Q.
Noble Romans Inc (NROM) is expected to report for 4Q.
Northwest Natural Holding Co $(NWN)$ is expected to report $1.34 for 4Q.
Prime Medicine Inc (PRME) is expected to report $-0.26 for 4Q.
Stagwell Inc $(STGW)$ is expected to report $0.12 for 4Q.
Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc (SHO) is expected to report $0.00 for 4Q.
TXNM Energy Inc (TXNM) is expected to report $0.19 for 4Q.
TransAlta Corp (TA.T,TAC) is expected to report $0.09 for 4Q.
Treace Medical Concepts Inc $(TMCI)$ is expected to report $-0.15 for 4Q.
Via Transportation Inc $(VIA)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
inTEST Corp $(INTT)$ is expected to report $0.06 for 4Q.
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ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
Arcellx Cut to Neutral From Buy by Guggenheim
Array Technologies Cut to Hold From Buy by Deutsche Bank
Ategrity Specialty Ins Cut to Neutral From Buy by Citigroup
C3.ai Cut to Market Perform From Market Outperform by Citizens
Clearwater Analytics Cut to Sector Perform From Outperform by RBC Capital
Driven Brands Holdings Cut to Neutral From Overweight by Piper Sandler
eHealth Cut to Hold From Buy by Craig-Hallum
Federal Signal Raised to Market Outperform From Market Perform by CJS Securities
First Solar Cut to Hold From Buy by Deutsche Bank
Joby Aviation Raised to Buy From Neutral by HC Wainwright & Co.
Merit Medical Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells Fargo
Mosaic Cut to Underweight From Neutral by JP Morgan
Nasdaq Raised to Buy From Hold by TD Cowen
Palantir Technologies Raised to Buy From Neutral by UBS
PROCEPT BioRobotics Cut to Perform From Outperform by Oppenheimer
PROCEPT BioRobotics Cut to Underperform From Neutral by B of A Securities
Spok Holdings Cut to Neutral From Buy by B. Riley Securities
Tanger Cut to Neutral From Buy by Compass Point
Trade Desk Cut to Hold From Buy by Loop Capital
US Bancorp Raised to Buy From Hold by Truist Securities
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2026 06:09 ET (11:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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