1. Futures lower

U.S. stock futures ticked lower on Friday, pointing to a downbeat end to the trading week as investors poured through the ramifications of a raft of consequential technology sector earnings.

By 02:59 ET (07:59 GMT), the Dow futures contract had fallen by 205 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures had dipped by 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were broadly unchanged.

The main averages on Wall Street notched a mixed close on Thursday, with results from artificial intelligence-darling Nvidia and cloud-software group Salesforce in focus.

While Nvidia posted better-than-expected quarterly results, there remained several concerns swirling around the semiconductor giant, including rapidly intensifying competition, the sustainability of runaway customer demand, and uncertainty over when investors will see significant returns. Shares of Nvidia -- which make up a notable chunk of the overall stock market -- dropped by more than 5%.

Salesforce shares, on the other hand, gained despite the company issuing an underwhelming annual revenue forecast. However, analysts at Vital Knowledge said the earnings were "no worse than feared."

Thursday’s session also featured a "violent rotation" within tech, as investors shifted away from "physical" stocks like chips and data center infrastructure and into virtual ones like software and data, the analysts added.

"Small red flags" from Nvidia and relief around numbers from Salesforce and peer Workday -- coupled with comments from AI startup Anthropic earlier this week about wanting to "compliment and augment, not kill" software firms -- helped to drive this trend, they argued.

2. Paramount wins bidding war for Warner Bros.

Paramount Skydance has become the likely winner of a longstanding corporate battle for Hollywood stalwart Warner Bros. Discovery after a stunning decision by Netflix to back away from its rival offer.

Executives at Netflix, whose shares spiked in after-hours trading following the announcement, said that while the transaction was "always a ’nice to have’ at the right price," it was "not a ’must have’ at any price." The streaming service has the financial firepower to pursue a purchase, but has encountered some doubts from shareholders around the justification for snapping up a legacy media organization.

Sparking Netflix’s move away from a previous agreement with Warner Bros. was the board of the HBO Max parent, which said it had determined Paramount’s $31-per-share offer for all of the company was a superior offer. Netflix was then given four days to respond, but chose to ditch its $27.75-per-share proposal for Warner Bros.’ studios and HBO Max.

This puts Paramount -- owned by David Ellison, son of tech mogul Larry Ellison -- in position to create a media powerhouse that will fold in Warner Bros.’ popular franchises like "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones." Should the purchase be agreed on and receive regulatory approval, Paramount would also oversee cable networks like CNN and TBS.

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said a Paramount deal would "create tremendous value for our shareholders." Shares of Paramount rose in extended hours trading, while Warner Bros. dipped.

3. Anthropic in dispute with U.S. government

Anthropic has said it will not agree to demands from the Pentagon to take down safeguards from its AI systems, putting one of the most prominent AI startups at odds with the U.S. government.

At issue is the Pentagon’s call for Anthropic to remove features preventing its technology from being used to conduct surveillance of Americans or power weapons autonomously.

The Pentagon has threatened to both end a partnership with Anthropic and deem it a "supply chain risk" should the company not accede to the request. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given Anthropic a Friday afternoon deadline to agree that the Pentagon can use the technology in all lawful cases.

But Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement that he could not do so "in good conscience," adding that the guardrails would effectively be undone by the military’s request.

4. Block surges

Shares of Block soared by more than 23% in after-hours trading after the payments company said it would cull nearly half its workforce as part of an effort to embed AI deeper into its operations.

The job cuts, expected to result in the loss of over 4,000 roles, comes as firms are increasingly translating the rise of AI into wider headcount changes. This has in turn driven worries among workers and economists that the AI boom, despite boosting productivity, may lead to greater unemployment.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey said that "[i]ntelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company," adding "[w]e’re already seeing it internally" and "[a] significantly smaller team using the tools can do more and do it better[.]"

Although Block is planning to incur as much as $500 million in restructuring changes, analysts cited by Reuters have suggested that the spike in the stock is reflective of hopes that margins will strengthen as the workforce shrinks.

5. Oil inches up after U.S.-Iran talks

Oil prices inched higher, but could post weekly losses after the United States and Iran extended talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, easing concerns about potential hostilities that could disrupt supply.

Brent futures climbed 0.7% to $71.29 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.8% to $65.74 a barrel.

For the week, Brent is largely unchanged, but WTI was set to fall around 1%, reversing some of the previous week’s gains.

The talks between the two countries over Iran’s nuclear ambitions concluded on Thursday with no clear deal being agreed.

But they plan to resume negotiations with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X after the meetings in Geneva.

Tensions over Iran have been a major driver of oil prices in February, with the U.S. amassing a major military force in the Middle East and threatening action if Tehran did not accept a deal.

The U.S. dollar stabilized Thursday after earlier losses on the back of strong earnings from AI giant Nvidia, with traders awaiting details of the latest U.S. tariffs.

At 03:00 ET (08:00 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher to 97.650, but was on track for weekly losses of around 0.2%.

Dollar stable after solid Nvidia result 

The dollar has steadied after beginning the day on the back foot as better-than-expected earnings from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) boosted investor confidence, weighing on this safe haven.

The world’s most valuable company reported that its January-quarter sales surpassed analyst expectations and forecast current-quarter revenue above market projections.

“Improved sentiment has weighed on the dollar over the past 24 hours, with only the yen taking a worse beating in G10 yesterday,” said analysts at ING, in a note.

Traders are also keeping an eye on the Trump administration’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on February 20 that struck down the president’s emergency tariffs.

The U.S. tariff rate for some countries will rise to 15% or higher from the newly imposed 10%, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday, without naming any specific trading partners or giving further details. 

Additionally, U.S. and Iranian officials are meeting in Geneva later in the session to discuss a nuclear deal, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening “bad things” could happen to the Middle East country if meaningful progress is not achieved.

“Any escalation there looks like the most plausible catalyst for a broader dollar rally, given the reassurance from Nvidia’s results and the lack of major data releases,” said ING.

“Overall, we could see some stabilisation in the dollar today, though some downside risks remain as the positive spillover from Nvidia’s earnings may keep markets tilted away from defensive currencies a little longer.”

Euro slips slightly

In Europe, EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower to 1.1798, with Eurozone consumer confidence figures due later in the session.

However, these numbers, as well as inflation data on Friday, are unlikely to impact the single currency significantly with the European Central Bank likely to keep policy rates unchanged for some time to come.

“For now, the EUR:USD short-term rate differential remains unsupportive for EUR/USD, but we haven’t seen enough restoration of confidence in the dollar to call for a major leg lower from here. We still see 1.1750 as a good support level, barring a major escalation in Iran,” said ING.

GBP/USD fell 0.3% to 1.3523, with sterling struggling to benefit from data showing that sentiment in Britain’s business and professional services sector became markedly less negative in the current quarter.

The Confederation of British Industry’s quarterly services sector survey showed that optimism for business and professional services businesses jumped to -3 in February from -50 in November, its highest reading since August 2024.

Yen gains after Ueda interview 

In Asia, USD/JPY fell 0.3% to 156.01, after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun that policymakers would closely scrutinize incoming data at their March and April meetings, leaving open the possibility of another rate hike if inflation and wage trends remain firm.

The remarks reinforced expectations that Japan could continue its gradual normalization path.

The yen had weakened on Wednesday after media reports said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi struck a cautious tone on further rate increases and following the nomination of two dovish-leaning candidates to the BOJ board.

USD/CNY traded 0.4% lower to 6.8392, with the pair falling to a fresh 34-month low amid expectations of policy support ahead of China’s annual parliamentary gathering, the National People’s Congress.

Investors are positioning for growth targets and potential fiscal stimulus signals at the meeting, which is widely seen as setting the tone for Beijing’s economic priorities this year.

AUD/USD dropped 0.1% to 0.7114, while NZD/USD fell 0.2% to 0.5988.

U.S. stock index futures edged higher Wednesday as investors cautiously awaited quarterly earnings from a number of major companies, including from AI bellwether Nvidia. 

At 05:20 ET (10:20 GMT), Dow Jones Futures gained 68 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures advanced 10 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 40 points, or 0.2%.

The main averages on Wall Street advanced in the prior session, as concerns about artificial intelligence disruption across several industries dissipated. 

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8%, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite rose nearly 1.1% to 22,863.68 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.8%. 

Nvidia to test market’s confidence 

Sentiment received a boost Tuesday after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) announced a multi-year deal with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), as well as Anthropic detailing a wave of partnerships, which helped to soothe some concerns around widespread disruption to software and data stocks from the AI startup’s newest models.

However, this optimism will be tested later in the session with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the world’s most valuable company, set to report its latest results after the close. These numbers are largely expected to act as a bellwether for the AI industry and chip demand, and are likely to act a signpost for the direction of global stock markets now entwined with the nascent technology.

"It’s not only Nvidia investors who will be nervous ahead of the company’s results; the entire global equity market may be on edge, given the importance of the AI trade," said Laurence Booth, Global Head of Markets at CMC Markets.

The chip maker has outpaced sales forecasts for 13 straight quarters, and thus it’s the size of the beat that is likely to matter to investors. Forecasts are for profits to rise 62% in the quarter to end January, and revenue to jump 68%, according to LSEG data.

Elsewhere, results from the likes of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) are also due following the closing bell on Wall Street.

Among major aftermarket movers, HP (NYSE:HPQ) stock fell 5% after the PC developer presented an underwhelming outlook for 2026 amid headwinds from U.S. trade regulations and surging memory chip prices. 

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) fell over 8% after the enterprise software maker forecast downbeat revenue as corporations pull back on spending amid broader macroeconomic uncertainty. 

Trump’s State of the Union speech

Away from the corporate sector, uncertainty around the fate of President Donald Trump’s tariffs remains, after he imposed temporary 10% global duties following a Supreme Court decision striking down his so-called "reciprocal" levies.

At a State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump said "everything was working well" with his tariff agenda, adding that the Supreme Court ruling was "unfortunate."

Beyond tariffs, Trump spoke on a wide range of topics, from his administration’s attempts to curb inflation to ongoing peace negotiations with Iran. 

The president is grappling with increasing voter dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy, especially in curbing the high cost of living. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Sunday found only 39% of respondents approved his job as president so far, while 58% disapproved his handling of immigration. 

Crude near seven-month highs 

Oil prices hovered near seven-month highs ahead of nuclear deal negotiations between Iran and the U.S. in Switzerland later this week.

Brent futures climbed 0.5% to $70.92 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.5% to $65.93 a barrel.

Both contracts remain close to their highest levels since early August as the U.S. has positioned military forces in the Middle East to compel Iran to agree to an end to its nuclear program.

U.S. envoys, including special representative Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, are due to meet Iranian counterparts on Thursday.

As Nvidia heads into quarterly earnings on Wednesday, AI investors are seeking evidence that the chipmaker’s profits are growing apace on the back of a $630 billion capital spending budget from Big Tech. But signs of risk to Nvidia’s long-held dominance are also emerging from hyperscalers’ plans to design their own cheaper AI chips.

After powering much of the U.S. stock market rally for the past three years, Nvidia’s stock has risen just about 2% so far in 2026.

Along with Advanced Micro Devices, which is set to unveil a new flagship AI server later this year, Alphabet’s Google has emerged as a top rival with a deal to provide Claude chatbot creator Anthropic with its in-house chips called TPUs. Google is also in talks to supply Meta - a large Nvidia customer, according to media reports.

To defend its position, Nvidia struck a deal, reportedly worth $20 billion, last year to license chip technology from Groq - a move that analysts say would boost its position in the booming market for inference, the process by which a trained AI model answer questions in real time. Nvidia last week also agreed to sell millions of chips to Meta, though it did not disclose the value of the deal.

But Nvidia, the biggest winner of the AI boom, has itself stoked doubts about whether the spending is sustainable by drawing out the process of a potential $100 billion investment in OpenAI, one of its biggest customers. A recent media report said it plans to replace that commitment with a smaller $30 billion investment.

"This earnings in particular is important because people are so concerned about AI spending - whether we’re in a bubble," said Ivana Delevska, chief investment officer of Spear Invest, which holds the company’s shares in an exchange-traded fund. "Showing that earnings are not really decelerating will be pretty important."

Wall Street expects Nvidia to report that profit in the quarter ended January surged more than 62%, according to data compiled by LSEG, a slowdown from 65.3% growth in the previous quarter as it faces tougher comparisons with its previous earnings.

Revenue likely jumped more than 68% to $66.16 billion. Analysts expect Nvidia to forecast that first quarter revenue will grow another 64.4% to $72.46 billion. The company has surpassed sales expectations for the past 13 quarters, though that delta has shrunk.

RBC analysts expect the company to forecast April quarter revenue at least 3% above estimates. Spear Invest’s Delevska, an Nvidia bull, sees the company forecasting sales as much as $10 billion above estimates, expecting it to surpass market estimates by more than 13%.

STILL NO. 1

Analysts are still expecting demand for Nvidia’s pricey chips, which act as the "brains" of servers processing huge AI workloads to remain robust, and garner most of Big Tech’s massive spending to expand AI data center capacity this year.

Nvidia’s executives also hinted in January that they were discussing data center orders for next year with customers, leading several analysts to forecast the company would update a $500 billion order backlog figure it first offered in October.

The biggest constraint on Nvidia’s growth, though, could be supply chain bottlenecks that limit the speed of AI chip shipments as Nvidia and rivals are vying for space on contract chipmaker TSMC’s 3-nanometer assembly lines.

"We think Nvidia will meet expectations, but it is hard to see them delivering much upside in light of TSMC capacity," Jay Goldberg of Seaport Research Partners wrote in a note.

But the potential return of Nvidia’s AI chip sales to China - earlier restricted due to export curbs placed by the U.S. government - could help bump up sales.

CEO Jensen Huang said last month he hopes China will allow the company to sell its powerful H200 AI chip in the country and that the license is being finalised.

Rival AMD added sales of AI chips back to its forecast for the current quarter after it received licenses to ship some of its modified processors to China.

Nvidia is expected to record adjusted gross margin of 75% in the fourth quarter, an increase of more than one percentage point from the year-ago period.

Analysts don’t expect the company to hurt from the global memory supply shortage. Nvidia’s pricing power and the likelihood of it already having locked in high-bandwidth memory allocations for the year would cushion it from the impact of rising memory prices, they said.

The dollar slipped on Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s tariffs stirred fresh policy uncertainty, further fuelled by worries about a conflict with Iran.

The euro was up 0.2% against the dollar, to $1.1808, while sterling rose 0.3% to $1.3519. The greenback also weakened 0.2% against the Japanese yen to 154.745 yen.

"These initial moves appear to be knee-jerk reactions to headlines rather than true signals of fundamental change in the global economic landscape," said Invesco’s chief global market strategist Brian Levitt.

"The markets’ initial reaction to the ruling may ultimately be short-lived, given that multiple avenues can be pursued to keep tariffs in place."

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing sweeping tariffs, prompting him to lash out at the court and announce a blanket 15% levy on imports.

He also insisted that higher-tariff deals with trade partners should stay.

The uncertainty could complicate an already unsettled backdrop for forex markets, at a time when traders are dealing with shifting interest rate expectations and geopolitical jitters.

Trump’s replacement levies will run for 150 days and it is not clear if the U.S. owes importers refunds on duties already paid. The Supreme Court did not rule on that issue.

Analysts expect years of litigation and another bout of activity-crimping confusion while Trump seeks other means to replace the global tariffs more permanently.

The European Commission demanded on Sunday that the U.S. stick to a deal reached last year with the EU, which includes zero tariffs on some products such as aircraft and spare parts.

U.S. trading partners in Asia were weighing the fresh uncertainties, as were investors who have already been wrong-footed by markets’ responses to Trump’s trade levies - which have incidentally failed to close the U.S. trade deficit.

INVESTORS EYEING MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS

The risk of a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran has added another layer of ambiguity to financial markets.

While the longtime adversaries are scheduled to hold a third round of talks on Thursday on their nuclear dispute, Trump has ordered a huge buildup of forces in the Middle East.

"Escalating tensions in the Middle East have revived questions about geopolitical hedges and the FX impacts of a commodity price shock," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

Iran is among the world’s top oil producers, and any strikes on it are likely to ripple across the crude markets. A potential conflict might also disrupt shipping routes as Tehran has previously threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil flows.

Goldman analysts said the Swiss franc was their preferred inflation hedge. The franc was up 0.3% at 0.7736 francs per dollar.

Gold prices rose in Asian trading on Thursday after jumping more than 2% in the previous session, as investors assessed persistent geopolitical risks and mixed signals from the Federal Reserve.

Spot gold advanced 0.9% to $5,019.95 an ounce by 02:03 ET (07:03 GMT). U.S. Gold Futures gained 0.6% to $5,037.75.

The yellow metal jumped 2.1% on Wednesday, and recovered most of the ground it lost earlier this week.

Trading volumes were subdued with several major Asian markets closed for holidays, exaggerating short-term price swings.

US-Iran tensions drive haven demand; Fed outlook in focus

Geopolitical tensions remained a key pillar of bullion demand. Investors monitored heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, with concerns over maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, and stalled nuclear diplomacy.

At the same time, little progress in Russia-Ukraine peace efforts reinforced broader security risks, sustaining safe-haven flows into gold.

Sentiment turned cautious on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting highlighted divisions among policymakers over the interest-rate outlook.

While some officials flagged the possibility of further tightening if inflation proves sticky, others acknowledged conditions for eventual easing later in the year.

The prospect that U.S. rates could remain elevated for longer supported the dollar and Treasury yields, weighing on non-yielding gold after its recent surge.

The US Dollar Index traded largely flat after jumping 0.6% overnight on slightly hawkish Fed minutes.

Bullion tends to struggle when borrowing costs rise because higher yields increase the opportunity cost of holding the metal.

Investors now await U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data due on Friday, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, for clearer signals on the policy path.

Metal markets upbeat; silver extends gains

Other precious and industrial metals also extended gains on Thursday.

Silver prices jumped 2.3% to $78.98 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.8% to $2,099.11/oz.

Benchmark Copper Futures on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.5% to $12,920.20 a ton, while U.S. Copper Futures gained 0.5% to $5.80 a pound.

U.S. stock index futures traded higher Wednesday, ahead of the release of the minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting as well as more quarterly earnings.

At 05:15 ET (10:15 GMT), Dow Jones Futures gained 260 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures advanced 40 points, or 0.6%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 160 points, or 0.7%.

The main averages on Wall Street posted minor gain in the prior session, buoyed by a muted rebound in under-pressure technology shares. 

Fed minutes in spotlight 

The focus in the coming days will be squarely on a host of key economic indicators, including the minutes of the Fed’s January meeting, for more cues on the world’s largest economy. 

The Fed minutes are due later Wednesday, and are expected to provide more insight into the central bank’s plans for future interest rates. The Fed left rates unchanged in January and had flagged continued caution over sticky inflation and labor market weakness.

Notably, two Fed governors, Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller, dissented from the Fed’s decision last month to hold rates steady and push pause on a series of borrowing cost cuts dating back to the middle of last year.

Industrial production data for January is also due Wednesday, while PCE price index data for December is scheduled for Friday.

The PCE print is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and is likely to factor into the central bank’s long-term outlook on interest rates. 

Uncertainty over the Fed has been a major weight on Wall Street in recent weeks, especially after President Donald Trump’s nominee for the next Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, was viewed as a less dovish choice. 

Palo Alto’s guidance disappoints 

The tech sector has been in the spotlight for most of the new year as worries remained around the outlook for an industry that has been jolted by the unveiling of a series of cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools. Some traders have begun to fear the AI models could disrupt a swath of businesses ranging from software and financial services to real estate and logistics.

At the same time, doubts have swirled around when massive investments in AI data centers will eventually start to reap significant financial returns.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) added to these concerns after the group delivered a quarterly top-and-bottom line beat, but provided profit guidance that fell short of expectations.

Palo Alto offers cybersecurity through AI-driven platforms to protect networks and cloud operations. It provides services such as firewalls, threat intelligence, zero-trust network security, and secure access service edge solutions.

Elsewhere, there are earnings due from the likes of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) and DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) on Wednesday.

Crude bounces after selloff 

Oil prices edged up after tumbling nearly 2% in the previous session, as signs of progress in U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations eased fears of supply disruptions and dampened risk premiums.

Brent Oil Futures expiring in April had risen 0.5% to $67.78 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also gained 0.5% to $62.56 per barrel.

Brent contract slipped nearly 2% on Tuesday, while WTI prices fell 1%.

Washington and Tehran reportedly reached an understanding on key “guiding principles” during talks in Switzerland on Tuesday, raising expectations of a potential deal that could eventually bring more Iranian crude to global markets.

Gold and silver prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the prior session as metal markets remained on edge ahead of more key U.S. economic cues due this week.

Anticipation of upcoming negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, over Tehran’s nuclear program, also kept markets on edge. 

Market holidays in China and the U.S. made for sluggish trading volumes, while a mild increase in the dollar weighed on metal prices.

Spot gold fell 1.9% to $4,898.51 an ounce, while gold futures for April fell 2% to $4,916.66/oz by 01:22 ET (06:22 GMT). 

Spot silver slid nearly 3% to $74.4875/oz, while spot platinum fell 0.7% to $2,007.43/oz. 

US, Iran head for nuclear talks in Geneva

U.S. and Iranian officials are set to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, to discuss their long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear plans. 

The talks come amid heightened military tensions in the Middle East, as the U.S. mobilizes more of its forces in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran if it does not accept a U.S. deal.

Trump told reporters on Monday he would be indirectly involved in the talks, and that he believed Iran wanted a deal. 

The U.S. deployed two major aircraft carriers and several warships to the Middle East in recent weeks, keeping tensions high. Iran in turn began a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz this week. 

Still, precious metals saw little safe haven demand from heightened tensions in the Middle East. This was in part due to investors remaining largely cautious towards the sector after a major price wipeout since late-January. 

US data, Fed minutes awaited this week

Focus this week is squarely on a host of upcoming economic readings from the U.S., as well as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, which are due on Wednesday.

Industrial production data is due on Wednesday, while PCE price index data– which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge– is due on Friday. 

The latter will be closely watched for more cues on the path of inflation and interest rates. 

Uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy was a key weight on gold in recent weeks, especially after President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Chairman of the Fed.

Warsh was viewed as a less dovish pick, with his nomination sparking deep losses in metal markets, as traders also collected profits after a speculative frenzy drove gold and precious metal prices to new peaks in January. 

Recent inflation and labor data provided mixed cues on the world’s largest economy, with inflation cooling slightly in January, while employment picked up. 

The dollar caught some bids in holiday-thinned trading on Monday, pressuring commodity prices. 

Gold prices rose Friday, bouncing after losses in the previous session, with focus turning to rising tensions in the Middle East and upcoming U.S. inflation data for more cues. 

At 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT), Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,977.33 an ounce and gold futures for April rose 1% to $4,996.35/oz.

Spot prices tumbled over 3% in the prior session. 

Spot silver rose 4% to $78.703/oz, after wiping out some 10% in the prior session, while spot platinum rose 0.6% to $2,034.65/oz, climbing back above $2,000/oz after logging deep losses in the prior session. 

Safe haven demand helps bullion

Bullion has benefited from some safe haven demand on Friday after a host of reports said Washington planned to deploy a second aircraft carrier -- the USS Gerald R. Ford -- in the Middle East, as nuclear talks with Iran faltered. 

Uncertainty over future U.S. interest rate cuts was a major weight on metal prices, especially after payrolls data showed some signs of resilience in the labor market in January. The dollar came off its weekly lows following Wednesday’s nonfarm payrolls print. 

US CPI data awaited for more cues

The focus is now squarely on U.S. consumer price index inflation data for January, due later on Friday, for more cues on the world’s largest economy.

Labor market strength and inflation are the Federal Reserve’s two biggest considerations for interest rates. 

Markets broadly expect headline and core CPI to have cooled in January. But the January print has consistently surprised to the upside for the past four years, leaving markets on edge over a hawkish reading.

"An unexpected rise in inflation could reduce the Fed’s desire to cut interest rates further, making gold less attractive for investors," ANZ analysts wrote in a note. 

Relatively high interest rates diminish the appeal of non-yielding assets such as gold, while any strength in the dollar also stands to pressure the yellow metal. 

Gold, precious metals set for muted week 

Thursday’s losses saw gold and other precious metals largely reverse a recent rebound, with the yellow metal now trading up marginally for the week. 

Precious metals have struggled for direction since a flash crash in late-January, with uncertainty over U.S. interest rates being a key point of pressure.

Gold’s slump from recent records was initially triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump nominating Kevin Warsh as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, with Warsh being viewed as a less dovish pick.

Stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data for January added to concerns over fewer interest rate cuts, while wild price swings in precious metals also dampened their safe haven appeal.

Futures linked to Canada’s main stock exchange edged up on Thursday, as investors assessed a string of corporate earnings and awaited more cues on the U.S. economy later in the week.

By 07:43 ET (12:43 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had risen by 3 points, or 0.2%.

The S&P/TSX composite index inched down marginally to 33,254.19 on Wednesday, retreating from an intra-day record high notched earlier in the session. An all-time closing peak was previously logged on Tuesday.

A slump in shares of Shopify, which projected underwhelming free cash flow margins, weighed on the wider technology sector in Canada during the session. Real estate and financial stocks also declined.

But the commodities-heavy index was bolstered by gains in materials and energy stocks, reflecting higher oil and precious metals prices.

U.S. futures tick higher

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures rose. At 07:55 ET, Dow Jones Futures traded 128 points, or 0.3%, higher, S&P 500 Futures gained 21 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures added 73 points, or 0.3%.

The main averages on Wall Street edged lower on Wednesday, ending a three-day winning streak, following a blockbuster jobs report which well outpaced economists’ expectations but pushed back traders’ expected timeline for the next Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

At the close of trading, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, but remained above the key 50,000 level it breached earlier this week. The benchmark S&P 500 slipped marginally lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid by 0.2%.

Strong jobs report reduces Fed easing bets

Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 last month, well above economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%.

The stronger labor data reinforced the view that the U.S. economy remains resilient but also reduced the odds that the Fed will cut interest rates soon, pushing traders to scale back bets on imminent policy easing.

The report also included notable revisions to past data that highlighted underlying weakness in the labor market over the past year.

"The U.S. added more jobs than expected in January, but sizeable downward revisions reveal that – outside of leisure & hospitality, private healthcare, and government – the economy has actually been consistently losing jobs," ING analysts said in a note.

"This suggests the risks remain tilted toward the Fed cutting rates more than the two reductions currently in our forecast," they added.

There are more jobs numbers to digest later Thursday, in the form of the weekly initial jobless claims. ahead of Friday’s consumer price index (CPI) report, as traders seek further clues about the inflation trend and the timing of future rate moves.

Earnings season marches on

The fourth-quarter 2025 earnings season is now clearly past the midpoint, and the news has been generally positive: companies are delivering, revisions are moving higher, and earnings growth remains in double digits.

Arista Networks and semiconductor player Applied Materials are due to headline results after the close.

Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems unveiled quarterly gross margin that was short of analysts’ estimates late Wednesday, sending its shares sharply lower in premarket trading.

A rush of spending on the data centers needed to underpin AI models has depleted much of the global supply of memory chips, driving up the prices of these processors. This has, in turn, hit Cisco, whose routers and switches are often powered by memory chips.

McDonald’s topped Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter global comparable sales and profit, as meal deals and strong marketing promotions pulled in budget-strapped U.S. diners and demand held firm in Australia and Britain.

Gold edges lower

Gold and silver prices were lower, as the stronger-than-expected U.S. payrolls data hit wagers for an impending Fed rate cut, although losses were limited by lingering haven demand.

Markets are now pricing in a 92.5% chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged in March, and a 79.1% probability of a similar outcome in April, CME FedWatch showed.

The jobs report also spurred an overnight bounce in the dollar, which weighed on metal markets.

Still, precious metal prices retained a bulk of their advances made this week, with tensions between Iran and the U.S. helping keep safe-haven demand in play.

Crude reverses earlier gains

Oil prices dropped below the flatline, reversing earlier gains, after a report from the International Energy Agency forecast that world oil demand is seen rising at a slower pace than initially anticipated in 2026

The outlook for annual oil demand growth was revised moderately lower to 850,000 bpd, with the IEA pointing to the impact of higher crude prices and broader economic uncertainties. China, the world’s largest oil importer, is anticipated to remain the largest contributor to this increase, albeit well below its average growth over the past decade, IEA said.

Crude rose earlier on Thursday, as relations between Washington and Tehran remained tense, raising concerns of supply disruptions from this key crude-producing region.

Brent futures were last down 0.3% to $69.17 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.2% to $64.51 a barrel.

The benchmarks rose around 1% on Wednesday, as traders were seen pricing in a greater risk premium following reports that suggested Washington was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the region. While Iran and the U.S. had touted some progress in talks held over the weekend, there still appeared to be no conclusive deal on Tehran’s nuclear activities, leaving markets on edge.