Morning Juice – US Session Prep (4th February)

Sentiment
Equities bounced back following a sharp pullback in software names, while gold climbed back above the $5,000-per-ounce threshold.

Shares tied to economic growth led Wednesday’s advance. Futures linked to the Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, gained 0.4%. S&P 500 futures added 0.3% ahead of Alphabet earnings, while Nasdaq 100 contracts were largely flat. In Europe, chemical producers and automakers posted stronger gains. Novo Nordisk plunged 17% after delivering a weaker-than-expected sales outlook.

The shift toward cyclical stocks continued as fresh worries about artificial-intelligence disruption weighed on sentiment. Tuesday’s downturn was triggered by the release of a new automation product from Anthropic, with selling pressure spreading into financial firms and asset managers. Unease carried into Wednesday, as a European group of stocks viewed as vulnerable to AI disruption fell another 1%.

The dollar strengthened 0.2%, and Treasury yields inched higher. Bitcoin hovered around $76,000. The yen weakened further as traders priced in a win for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party in this weekend’s election.

Concerns around technological disruption have made it harder for investors to separate potential winners from losers in the AI space. With valuations elevated and earnings season under way, markets have been quick to penalize companies that failed to meet high expectations.

Advanced Micro Devices slid 8% in premarket trading after issuing a disappointing revenue outlook. The shares are still up roughly 50% since October, compared with little movement over the same period for AI chip leader Nvidia.

Docket
08:15 ET
US ADP Employment Change for January
Forecast: 45K | Prior: 41K | Range: 119K / 10K

08:30 ET
US Treasury Quarterly Refunding Announcement

09:45 ET
US S&P Services PMI Final for January
Forecast: 52.5 | Prior: 52.5 | Range: 52.7 / 52

10:00 ET
US ISM Services PMI for January
Forecast: 53.5 | Prior: 54.4 | Range: 57 / 52.8

10:30 ET
US Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories
Forecast: -0.639M | Prior: -2295M | Range: 3.5M / -4M

Speakers
12:00 ET
Fed’s Barkin speaks before the Rotary Club of Aiken Economic Symposium

Earnings
16:00 ET
Alphabet Q4 2025 Earnings
Estimated EPS: $2.65
Estimated Revenue: $95.2B

Qualcomm Q1 2026 Earnings
Estimated EPS: $3.41
Estimated Revenue: $12.2B

16:30 ET
Alphabet Earnings Call

Good Luck!