February 2, 2026
On Saturday January 31, the U.S. entered a partial government shutdown as Congress could not reach a decision on the final bill, according to the Government Executive. Yahoo Finance notes that U.S. stocks rose slightly, with the S&P 500 up 0.5%, Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite increasing 1%. The source furthered that gold and oil prices fell while silver pulled higher before dropping again. The U.S. The Department of the Treasury released a statement detailing that the economy remains resilient due to a number of reasons, including the labor market’s stability and lower inflationary pressures. Overall, Monday was a stable day for the markets with major indicators rising slightly.
February 3, 2026
On Tuesday, President Trump signed a bill officially ending the partial government shutdown, which originally stemmed from from funding disputes, explained Investopedia. Most government agencies are now funded through the year, but the bill only extended some departments by a couple of days, like the Department of Homeland Security, which caused much controversy. While the shutdown was short, it delayed the jobs report causing economic disruption, reported Investopedia. The S&P 500 fell nearly 1% as investors rotate out of tech and invest capital into other sectors, explained CNBC. The S&P is a tech focused index with the top five companies, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon making up almost 30% of the entire fund, according to CNBC. Some investors believed the AI industry could be overstated, explaining the dip in the S&P. CNBC also wrote that the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.34% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.43%.
February 4, 2026
Major indexes closed mixed on Wednesday with the S&P and Nasdaq falling for the second consecutive day as tech stocks tumbled, reported Investopedia. The Nasdaq fell 1.5% and the S&P dipped 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%. Investopedia also writes that Bitcoin sank to $72,100 its lowest level since November 2024. The Wall Street Journal explained the chipmaker AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) fell 17%, which is the biggest pullback since 2017. Many investors seemed somewhat skeptical of the AI Industry’s value in the future and its impact on software companies. Aside from tech stocks falling, other industries reported gains, the Dow closed near record highs, pharmaceutical company Ely Lilly (LLY) surged 10%, and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) skyrocketed 50% after being acquired by Texas Instruments for around $7.5 billion, explained Investopedia.
February 5, 2026
For the third straight day Investopedia reported that the Nasdaq and S&P fell 1.6% and 1.2% respectively. Most major indexes closed lower and Bitcoin plunged to $62,000. Investopedia also noted Amazon fell 4.4% as they were not able to meet their quarterly earnings estimate and announced a big AI spending forecast. Key macroeconomic indicators such as the 10 Year Treasury Bond Yield—the interest rate the U.S. government pays to borrow money for 10 years and seen as a proxy for mortgage rates—fell 4.20% and the U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.3%. Outside of the stock market, the USDA released data indicating an agriculture industry under pressure The American Farm Bureau Federation also reported that net farm income is predicted to slip in 2026 and production expenses are expected to reach a record high of $477.7 billion.
February 6, 2026
After several days in the red for technology stocks, they finally recovered with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.47%( the first time the Dow exceeded 50,000 point), the S&P 500 rose 1.97% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.18%, reported CNBC. Despite declining last week, Nvidia and Broadcom both surged respectively adding 8% and 7%, helping to lead the tech industry out of the red. Bitcoin, the digital currency, added 10%, although it is important to note that Bitcoin varies from regular stocks since it lacks physical value and can be significantly unpredictable. Following their underwhelming earnings per share report Amazon sank 5%, explained CNBC. The Wall Street Journal reported that the gains from Friday are due to a resilient economy and satisfactory earnings although the market decline this week can not fully be explained by economic factors.
