Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.48%

Investing.com – Russia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Mining, Oil & Gas and Manufacturing sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index rose 0.31% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were Novolipetsk Steel (MCX:NLMK), which rose 6.09% or 6.60 points to trade at 114.96 at the close. Meanwhile, Bank VTB PJSC (MCX:VTBR) added 6.06% or 4.44 points to end at 77.72 and Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat PAO (MCX:MAGN) was up 4.79% or 1.42 points to 31.05 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX:RUAL), which fell 1.47% or 0.62 points to trade at 41.62 at the close. Polyus PJSC (MCX:PLZL) declined 1.18% or 32.40 points to end at 2,705.60 and Surgutneftegas PJSC Pref (MCX:SNGS_p) was down 1.11% or 0.50 points to 44.17.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Moscow Stock Exchange by 144 to 98 and 11 ended unchanged.

The Russian Volatility Index – RVI, which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was up 1.51% to 26.85.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.59% or 84.74 to $5,424.94 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 3.21% or 2.03 to hit $65.24 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 3.00% or 2.02 to trade at $69.39 a barrel.

USD/RUB was down 0.76% to 75.96, while EUR/RUB fell 1.58% to 90.04.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.20% at 96.09.

Investing.com -- Wall Street ended largely lower on Thursday, though the major averages closed well off their session lows. A post-earnings plunge in Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) weighed on sentiment and dragged down software services stocks. Meanwhile, gold halted a historic run that saw the yellow metal near $5,600/oz, as traders locked in gains.

Heavyweight earnings were the focus, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) set to report after the bell. Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) results were cheered by investors.

The benchmark S&P 500 index slipped 0.2% to conclude at 6,963.76 points, having fallen more than 1.5% earlier in the day. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite fell 0.7% to finish at 23,685.12 points, having slid about 2.5% earlier. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 0.1% to settle at 49,071.56 points.

The S&P 500 briefly broke through the 7,000 threshold for the first time on Wednesday.

"Clearly Microsoft is the primary culprit behind today’s market weakness as their stock is down more than 12% today after reporting earnings that were ahead of expectations on both earnings and revenue but the sharp increase in AI infrastructure spending seems to have spooked the market. Software names are bearing the brunt of the selloff with the broader group down nearly 10% today," Andrew Goins, senior portfolio manager at Orion Advisor Solutions, said. 

Meta soars, Microsoft slumps after earnings

Three of the Magnificent 7 members reported results after hours on Wednesday, with their stocks seeing a mixed response this morning.

Meta soared after the Facebook-owner forecast first-quarter revenue above market expectations, pointing to resilient advertising demand and growing returns from its investments in artificial intelligence. 

The Instagram parent also said its capital expenditures would jump to as much as $135 billion this year, well above Wall Street expectations and almost doubling 2025’s total, as big spending on artificial intelligence remained a key theme of earnings.  

Microsoft shares, on the other hand, fell sharply. The tech behemoth said it too had spent more on its AI build-out than many had anticipated, but worries still swirled around slightly lower growth at its key Azure cloud-computing division versus the prior quarter. 

Microsoft’s results, along with SAP SE’s, raised fresh questions about the durability of cloud and AI spending, and weighed on software services stocks. Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM), Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY), and Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) were among the top percentage decliners on the Nasdaq. 

"We’re seeing a strong rotation into more defensive areas of the market with real estate, consumer staples, utilities, financials all in the green so far today. Along with that, value stocks are extending their year-to-date outperformance relative to growth stocks," Orion Advisor Solutions’ Goins said. 

"While we’ve been talking a lot about whether AI stocks have been in a bubble over the last few quarters, today’s action along with year-to-date market movements, I think are healthy signs that investors are beginning to pay attention to the risks and the significant costs associated with the continued AI infrastructure buildout," he said.

"These digesting periods are healthy and should create better long-term opportunities. Days like today are good reminders of the benefits of diversification – there are attractive market opportunities outside of just the AI theme," Goins added.

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in talks to invest up to $50 billion in ChatGPT-developer OpenAI, citing people familiar with the matter.

Fed holds rates steady, providing stability

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.50%–3.75% on Wednesday, marking the first pause after three consecutive cuts.

In its policy statement, the Fed cited still-elevated inflation alongside solid economic growth and a stabilizing labor market, and offered little in the way of guidance on the timing of future cuts.

"Overall, the Fed struck a more positive tone on the economy, with subtle changes to the FOMC’s statement that modestly upgraded the Committee’s outlook on the labor market and conveyed slightly less concern about inflationary pressures," Brian Storey, head of multi asset strategies at Brinker Capital, said.

"Although the Fed did not update its ’dot plot’ at this meeting, it is noteworthy that there seems to be a healthy degree of alignment between the Fed and financial markets (courtesy of fed funds futures) on the likelihood of 1-2 quarter-point rate cuts by year-end," he said.

"With this alignment between the Fed and financial markets, there is a reduced likelihood of monetary policy upending equity markets as we move into the back half of the year," Storey added.

Gold halts historic run, crude pops

Gold prices earlier soared to a record high near $5,600 an ounce, extending recent gains following a report that Trump was considering a new strike on Iran. The run finally came to an end in morning trading, with spot gold sharply turning lower as some profit-taking emerged.

Silver prices also followed gold into negative territory after hitting an all-time peak of nearly $122/oz, as the white metal also benefited from outsized demand for safe havens.

The torrid metal price rally has showed few signs of slowing amid heightened global geopolitical tensions, which ramped up demand for physical assets and safe havens. A weak dollar and uncertainty over U.S. policy also provided support, with copper prices also hitting a record high on Thursday.

Oil prices also climbed strongly, with Brent trading near $70/bbl, on increasing concerns of a disruption of supply from Iran, if the key Middle Eastern producer is targeted by the U.S. for military action. 

Brent futures gained 2.9% to $69.29 a barrel and Crude Oil WTI Futures rose 3.1% to $65.13 a barrel.

Both contracts have climbed over 10% this week and are at their highest since June last year.

Ayushman Ojha and Peter Nurse contributed to this article

Investing.com -- Wall Street ended largely lower on Thursday, though the major averages closed well off their session lows. A post-earnings plunge in Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) weighed on sentiment and dragged down software services stocks. Meanwhile, gold halted a historic run that saw the yellow metal near $5,600/oz, as traders locked in gains.

Heavyweight earnings were the focus, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) set to report after the bell. Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) results were cheered by investors.

The benchmark S&P 500 index slipped 0.2% to conclude at 6,963.76 points, having fallen more than 1.5% earlier in the day. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite fell 0.7% to finish at 23,685.12 points, having slid about 2.5% earlier. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 0.1% to settle at 49,071.56 points.

The S&P 500 briefly broke through the 7,000 threshold for the first time on Wednesday.

"Clearly Microsoft is the primary culprit behind today’s market weakness as their stock is down more than 12% today after reporting earnings that were ahead of expectations on both earnings and revenue but the sharp increase in AI infrastructure spending seems to have spooked the market. Software names are bearing the brunt of the selloff with the broader group down nearly 10% today," Andrew Goins, senior portfolio manager at Orion Advisor Solutions, said. 

Meta soars, Microsoft slumps after earnings

Three of the Magnificent 7 members reported results after hours on Wednesday, with their stocks seeing a mixed response this morning.

Meta soared after the Facebook-owner forecast first-quarter revenue above market expectations, pointing to resilient advertising demand and growing returns from its investments in artificial intelligence. 

The Instagram parent also said its capital expenditures would jump to as much as $135 billion this year, well above Wall Street expectations and almost doubling 2025’s total, as big spending on artificial intelligence remained a key theme of earnings.  

Microsoft shares, on the other hand, fell sharply. The tech behemoth said it too had spent more on its AI build-out than many had anticipated, but worries still swirled around slightly lower growth at its key Azure cloud-computing division versus the prior quarter. 

Microsoft’s results, along with SAP SE’s, raised fresh questions about the durability of cloud and AI spending, and weighed on software services stocks. Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM), Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY), and Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) were among the top percentage decliners on the Nasdaq. 

"We’re seeing a strong rotation into more defensive areas of the market with real estate, consumer staples, utilities, financials all in the green so far today. Along with that, value stocks are extending their year-to-date outperformance relative to growth stocks," Orion Advisor Solutions’ Goins said. 

"While we’ve been talking a lot about whether AI stocks have been in a bubble over the last few quarters, today’s action along with year-to-date market movements, I think are healthy signs that investors are beginning to pay attention to the risks and the significant costs associated with the continued AI infrastructure buildout," he said.

"These digesting periods are healthy and should create better long-term opportunities. Days like today are good reminders of the benefits of diversification – there are attractive market opportunities outside of just the AI theme," Goins added.

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was in talks to invest up to $50 billion in ChatGPT-developer OpenAI, citing people familiar with the matter.

Fed holds rates steady, providing stability

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.50%–3.75% on Wednesday, marking the first pause after three consecutive cuts.

In its policy statement, the Fed cited still-elevated inflation alongside solid economic growth and a stabilizing labor market, and offered little in the way of guidance on the timing of future cuts.

"Overall, the Fed struck a more positive tone on the economy, with subtle changes to the FOMC’s statement that modestly upgraded the Committee’s outlook on the labor market and conveyed slightly less concern about inflationary pressures," Brian Storey, head of multi asset strategies at Brinker Capital, said.

"Although the Fed did not update its ’dot plot’ at this meeting, it is noteworthy that there seems to be a healthy degree of alignment between the Fed and financial markets (courtesy of fed funds futures) on the likelihood of 1-2 quarter-point rate cuts by year-end," he said.

"With this alignment between the Fed and financial markets, there is a reduced likelihood of monetary policy upending equity markets as we move into the back half of the year," Storey added.

Gold halts historic run, crude pops

Gold prices earlier soared to a record high near $5,600 an ounce, extending recent gains following a report that Trump was considering a new strike on Iran. The run finally came to an end in morning trading, with spot gold sharply turning lower as some profit-taking emerged.

Silver prices also followed gold into negative territory after hitting an all-time peak of nearly $122/oz, as the white metal also benefited from outsized demand for safe havens.

The torrid metal price rally has showed few signs of slowing amid heightened global geopolitical tensions, which ramped up demand for physical assets and safe havens. A weak dollar and uncertainty over U.S. policy also provided support, with copper prices also hitting a record high on Thursday.

Oil prices also climbed strongly, with Brent trading near $70/bbl, on increasing concerns of a disruption of supply from Iran, if the key Middle Eastern producer is targeted by the U.S. for military action. 

Brent futures gained 2.9% to $69.29 a barrel and Crude Oil WTI Futures rose 3.1% to $65.13 a barrel.

Both contracts have climbed over 10% this week and are at their highest since June last year.

Ayushman Ojha and Peter Nurse contributed to this article

AGI Inc (AGBK) has filed for 43,636,364 share NYSE IPO at $15-$18 per share.

Investing.com -- DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) stock fell 1.6% and Uber (NYSE:UBER) shares traded lower on Thursday following news that competitor Grubhub plans to eliminate delivery and service fees on all restaurant orders over $50.

The fee removal initiative, reported by Bloomberg News, will begin rolling out to select users on Thursday before expanding more broadly on February 2. Previously, such fee exemptions were only available to members of Grubhub’s paid subscription service.

According to Grubhub Chief Executive Officer Howard Migdal, the strategic move aims to attract new customers, encourage larger orders, and address what he called the "biggest pain point" in the food delivery industry. Migdal noted that the average fee for orders exceeding $50 across delivery platforms is approximately $13.

The Grubhub CEO also revealed that 81% of the company’s customers have abandoned their carts at some point after seeing the total cost with fees added. "Quite frankly, as a consumer, you feel guilty paying those exorbitant fees to take something from point A to point B," Migdal said.

This competitive pricing strategy from the newly private food-delivery app appears to be putting pressure on publicly traded rivals as investors weigh potential market share implications and the possibility of fee compression across the industry.

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