US stock market confronts risks as investors grapple with tech, Fed outlook

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US stock market confronts risks as investors grapple with tech, Fed outlook. 📈 Risks to the U.S. stock market are piling up as cracks emerge in the technology trade and the path for interest rates is clouded by persistent inflation worries that are being exacerbated by the potential for looming tariffs. Reuters reports.

☁️ CloudDrop: Microsoft shares fell 3.5% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company issued a downbeat forecast for its cloud business, while Meta rose 2.6% after beating quarterly revenue estimates. Reuters reports.

📈 GrowthMode: Tesla pledged a return to growth in 2025 on Wednesday after fourth quarter results disappointed, capping off a year that saw revenue rise just 1% while profits fell sharply from a year ago. Yahoo Finance reports.

🏦 SoftAI: SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, which would make it the startup’s top backer, CNBC has confirmed. CNBC reports.

💉 StockDose: Sanofi said it will repurchase €5 billion ($5.2 billion) of stock and grow profits faster this year as the drugmaker pivots away from consumer health to focus on fast-growing drugs like its RSV shot. Yahoo Finance reports.

🚀 IBMJump: IBM surpassed fourth-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday, driven by robust demand in its software unit as businesses ramped up IT spending, sending the company's shares soaring about 10% in extended trading. Yahoo Finance reports.

🛍️ RetailDrop: Shares of H&M dropped more than 5% on Thursday after the world’s second-largest retailer missed sales forecasts in the fourth quarter. CNBC reports.

(All pricing and percent gains are based on Early Pre-Market from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM Eastern Time)
Benzinga reports.

1. $ATHE: Alterity Therapeutics
Total gain: +104.12%

2. $NAOV: NanoVibronix
Total gain: +66.64%

3. $TECX: Tectonic Therapeutic
Total gain: +47.74%

4. $SPGC: Sacks Parente Golf
Total gain: +38.98%

5. $MGOL: MGO Global
Total gain: +30.87%

Why DeepSeek could mark a turning point for Silicon Valley on AI

Silicon Valley is coming to grips this week with the realization that creating an advanced artificial intelligence model may no longer be as specialized a task as was once believed.

The wakeup call came in the form of DeepSeek, a year-old Chinese start-up whose free, open-source AI model, R1, is more or less on par with advanced models from American tech giants — and it was built for a fraction of the cost, apparently with less advanced chips and it demands far less data center power to run.

Until now, the widely accepted wisdom in the US tech world was that American tech giants could stay ahead by spending billions of dollars, amassing advanced chips and building out huge data centers (despite the environmental cost). Essentially, because they’re among the richest companies in the world, they believed they could throw more resources at the problem than anyone else and come out on top.

Now, all of that has been called into question. And tech giants are facing tough questions from Wall Street.

📰 Read more

The closing price of the top three market percent gainers trading near or above $3 on January 29.

*All pricing and percent gains are based on regular market trading hours from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time

1. $DGNX: Diginex
Total gain: +205.50%
The company announced that the underwriters of its previously disclosed initial public offering have fully exercised their over-allotment option, purchasing an additional 337,500 ordinary shares at the public offering price of $4.10 per share, resulting in additional gross proceeds of $1.38 million. Benzinga reports.

2. $SLXN: Silexion Therapeutics
Total gain: +135.50%
The company announced that it has entered into definitive agreements for the immediate exercise of certain outstanding warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,221,523 of its ordinary shares, originally issued in January 2025, with an exercise price of $1.35 per share. Benzinga reports.

3. $KRKR: 36KR Holdings
Total gain: +120%
The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

Time (ET) / Report / Period

8:30 am - GDP - Q4
8:30 am - Initial jobless claims - January 2025
10:00 am - Pending home sales - December

“The risk of investing in stocks never goes away, but it is greatly reduced when one has a long-term perspective.”

― Burton G. Malkiel

Sourced in:
“A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful
Investing. 12th Edition”, by Burton G. Malkiel, published in 2019.