New York Stock Market Shows Mixed Early Trading Amid Corporate Earnings Digest... Tariff Concerns Ease

Qualcomm Drops 5%, Ford Plunges 6.69%
Amazon to Announce Earnings After Market Close
U.S. New Unemployment Claims Exceed Expectations
All Eyes on U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Report on the 7th

The three major indices of the U.S. New York Stock Exchange showed mixed movements near the opening on the 6th (local time). As investors digest corporate earnings and concerns over President Donald Trump's tariff policies have somewhat eased, a cautious atmosphere is prevailing. The market is closely watching Amazon's earnings report, which will be released after the market closes that day.

As of 10:04 a.m. in the New York stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow), which focuses on blue-chip stocks, was down 0.02% from the previous day at 44,863.68. The S&P 500, centered on large-cap stocks, was up 0.15% at 6,070.66, and the Nasdaq, focused on technology stocks, was trading 0.11% higher at 19,713.05.

By individual stocks, semiconductor company Qualcomm is down 5%. Despite reporting fourth-quarter earnings last year that exceeded market expectations, the announcement that there will be no growth in license revenue this year has led to weakness. ARM is also down 3.96% due to profit-taking despite earnings beating expectations. U.S. automaker Ford plunged 6.69% after issuing a difficult earnings outlook for this year. Amazon, which will report earnings after the market closes, is up 0.25%. Nvidia is up 1.25%.

Gaurav Malik, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Pallas Capital Advisors, said, "Stock valuations are high, and many of the largest and most important companies in the market are reporting mixed earnings," adding that "it will be difficult for the stock market to sustain a strong upward trend this year."

Concerns over President Trump's 'tariff bomb' have subsided. Earlier, he signed an executive order on the 1st to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports on top of existing tariffs, citing failure to stop illegal immigration and drugs entering the U.S. from these countries. While tariffs on Canada and Mexico were abruptly postponed for one month a day before they were to take effect on the 4th, the tariff increase on China was implemented from midnight on the 4th. However, the market expects the tariff card to be a 'negotiation tool' and anticipates that the U.S. and China leaders will eventually reach an agreement.

The number of new unemployment claims in the U.S., released that morning, exceeded market expectations, signaling a loosening labor market. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, new unemployment claims for the week of January 26 to February 1 totaled 219,000, an increase of 11,000 from the revised figure of 208,000 the previous week. This was 5,000 higher than the expert forecast of 214,000. Continuing claims, which represent those claiming unemployment benefits for at least two weeks, stood at 1,886,000 for the week of January 19 to 25. This was 36,000 higher than the revised figure of 1,850,000 the previous week and 16,000 above the market forecast of 1,870,000.

With mixed employment indicators, investors are focusing on the January employment report to be released by the Department of Labor on the 7th. The employment report is considered the most accurate indicator of the labor market status. Experts expect nonfarm payrolls to have increased by 154,000 last month, a significant decrease compared to 256,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate is expected to have remained steady at 4.1%.

Bond yields are on the rise. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, a global benchmark for bond yields, is up 2 basis points (1bp=0.01%) from the previous trading day, standing at 4.44%. The U.S. 2-year Treasury yield, sensitive to monetary policy, is moving around 4.21%, up 3 basis points from the previous day.