GoAI Market Wrap - 4th Feb
Stock Market
Last night and this morning, amid a market style rotation toward cyclical and value stocks, combined with a new wave of software stock selloff driven by fears of “AI taking jobs” and escalating US-Iran tensions, the three major indices all closed lower.
At close:S&P 500 -0.84% to 6,917.81. Nasdaq Composite -1.43% to 23,255.19.Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.34% to 49,240.99.
Counterintuitively, despite the index declines, most S&P 500 components closed higher on Tuesday. FedEx continued its record-breaking rally, and Walmart crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold for the first time in history.
Chris Senyek, Chief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Research, commented: “Our sense is that beneath the surface calm, the market is churning violently: on one hand, investors are worried about U.S. corporate capex on AI; on the other, they are betting on another ‘hope and aspiration’ — that accelerating U.S. economic growth could broaden the rally from a handful of sectors to a wider range.”
Tuesday’s key market move was sparked by U.S. AI star Anthropic releasing an AI legal plugin, which first triggered a plunge in legal software companies, then spread to a broader set of software firms vulnerable to AI disruption.
The plugin reportedly covers corporate legal workflows, including contract review, NDA classification, compliance checks, briefing, and templated responses.
As of press time: Gartner -20.87%, Thomson Reuters -15.67%, London Stock Exchange Group -12.39%, Relx (information & analytics) -14.13%, S&P Global -11.27%. Gaming giants that had already plunged last week on Google’s Genie 3 real-time game scene generation model continued to fall, with Unity down 10.2%.
Global Markets
Trump Signs Funding Bill, Ends Partial Government Shutdown
President Trump signed a government funding bill in the White House Oval Office on February 3 local time, ending the partial government shutdown. Earlier that day, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass funding legislation for multiple federal departments for the remainder of the fiscal year, resolving the partial shutdown stalemate that began on January 31.
The bill provides funding for various federal departments through September 30 (end of the fiscal year) and allocates two weeks of funding for the Department of Homeland Security — recently embroiled in controversy and protests over immigration enforcement actions — to allow continued negotiations on improving DHS operations.
US Claims Shooting Down Iranian Drone; Iran Says It Was Conducting Legal Mission in International Waters
U.S. Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins disclosed Tuesday that an F-35C fighter from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone in the Arabian Sea that day.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, citing “sources,” said an Iranian “Shahed-129” drone was conducting routine legal reconnaissance, surveillance, and photography tasks in international waters that day, transmitting images back to command. It lost contact afterward. The cause of the loss is under investigation and will be announced once confirmed.
Company News
Novo Nordisk Earnings Trigger Sharp Stock Drop
Novo Nordisk U.S. shares closed down 14.64% Tuesday. After European close, the company reported earnings and guided that semaglutide patent expirations in multiple markets will cause 2026 sales and EBIT to decline 5%–13%, significantly below market expectations.
AMD Weakens Post-Earnings
After-hours Tuesday, AMD fell over 5% despite beating expectations overall. For the quarter ended December 27, adjusted EPS $1.53, revenue $10.27 billion. FactSet consensus was $1.32 EPS and $9.67 billion revenue. Q1 guidance: revenue $9.8 billion (±$300 million), above consensus $9.38 billion.
Texas Instruments Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Chip Designer Silicon Laboratories
Market reports say Texas Instruments is in talks to acquire chip designer Silicon Laboratories (Silicon Labs) for about $7 billion — a 55% premium to Tuesday’s close. At press time, Silicon Labs was up 34% after hours.
Walmart Joins “Trillion-Dollar Club”
U.S. retail giant Walmart rose against the market Tuesday, crossing the $1 trillion market cap threshold for the first time in history and joining the tech-dominated “trillion-dollar club.”
Forex & Commodities
International oil prices rose on February 3. At close, NYMEX WTI March crude futures +1.76 to $63.9/bbl (+2.83%).
COMEX gold March futures +317.90 to $4,970.5/oz (+6.83%). COMEX silver March futures +7.91 to $84.915/oz (+10.27%). Spot gold +286.94 to $4,947.04/oz (+6.16%). Spot silver +5.87 to $85.08/oz (+7.41%).
Key Events
Barclays: Oil Market Opportunity Emerging
Barclays’ latest research report notes that current US-Iran tensions create significant asymmetric upside risks for the oil market.
Despite short-term diplomatic efforts, no clear, sustainable diplomatic path has emerged.
The report recommends tactical long Brent crude call spreads and stresses that supply-side buffers are extremely limited — any material supply disruption could trigger a sharp price re-rating.
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin (BTC) 24h -3.11% to $76,316.15.
Ethereum (ETH) 24h -3.38% to $2,264.73.
BNB (BNB) 24h -1.69% to $758.83.
XRP (XRP) 24h -1.49% to $1.58.
Solana (SOL) 24h -4.54% to $99.09.
Key Events
Crypto Plunge Triggers $2.56B Bitcoin Liquidations
CoinGlass data shows crypto prices plunged amid broader risk-asset selloff (stocks, precious metals), with Bitcoin investors liquidating $2.56B in recent days.
Bitfinex analysts noted thin weekend liquidity exacerbated the drop. Others say the new liquidation wave shows crypto is highly sensitive to risk aversion. Bitcoin’s notorious volatility was amplified by fresh AI-trade concerns and precious-metals selloff triggered by Trump’s Warsh Fed Chair nomination.