Stock Market Update Thursday January 29, 2026
- Jan 29
- 5 min read
Stock Market Update Thursday January 29, 2026 U.S. equities opened under heavy pressure, with stocks turning sharply lower on an aggressive post-earnings selloff in Microsoft (MSFT) that deepened through midday. The downside move rippled across the already fragile software and cloud complex, amplifying weakness across the broader tech space. Geopolitical jitters also resurfaced amid reports of a U.S. Navy buildup near the Persian Gulf.
After a midday trough, the S&P 500 (SPX) mounted a strong reversal into the close, finishing nearly flat ahead of Apple’s (AAPL) results. From a sector perspective, the session was dominated by the MSFT fallout and its spillover into high-multiple tech names. Meanwhile, Financials, Industrials, and Energy outperformed, closing firmly in positive territory even as the broader index was under pressure. The Russell 2000 (IWM) managed to eke out a modest gain. After Hours: AAPL is trading roughly +1% post-earnings, while SanDisk (SNDK) is surging +12% following its report. Investors await additional guidance from ongoing conference calls.
Score Board:
SPX -0.1%
QQQ -0.5%
IWM +0.05%
Away From Stocks: Gold extended its rally to another all-time high, though price action appears increasingly volatile, with an intraday range of nearly 8%. Crude oil rallied another +3.5% on renewed geopolitical risk, bringing weekly gains to roughly +10%. Treasury yields eased modestly, with the 10-year yield (US10Y) retracing to 4.23%, giving back the prior day’s FOMC-induced uptick. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) slipped to 96.20, while implied volatility (VIX) briefly tested 20 before settling back below 17 at the close.
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