This week's stock shocks as of 30th January, 2026

The final week of January answered the question every investor was asking: Can Big Tech earnings justify these valuations when the Fed won’t budge? The answer came in loud and clear—it depends on who you ask. The S&P 500 briefly touched 7,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday before giving back gains, closing the week near 6,970. The Nasdaq tacked on gains early but shed them by Thursday’s tech selloff. The Dow bounced around on a tug-of-war between industrial strength and tech weakness—and somehow finished green.

This wasn’t a week of broad-based rallies or panic selling. It was surgical positioning. Meta exploded higher. Microsoft imploded. Caterpillar surprised everyone. Tesla beat but couldn’t sustain momentum. The market showed its true colours: stock-picking matters more than ever, and narrative shifts can happen overnight.

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Market recap 📊

The week’s price action told a story in three acts: anticipation, chaos, and recalibration.

Monday and Tuesday were all about positioning ahead of the Wednesday earnings barrage. The S&P 500 climbed steadily, crossing 7,000 intraday for the first time in history per TheStreet’s live coverage. Apple gained over 1%, Microsoft rose more than 2% as investors front-ran the reports. The mood was cautiously optimistic—not euphoric, just steady accumulation. The broad market index posted a closing record just shy of 7,000 on Tuesday.

Wednesday brought the main event. Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla all reported within minutes of each other after the close. Meta crushed it—revenue of $59.9 billion beat expectations, Q1 guidance topped estimates, and AI spending plans made jaws drop. The company guided 2026 capex to $115-135 billion, largely for AI infrastructure. Microsoft beat too on revenue ($81.27 billion vs $80.27 billion expected), but the market didn’t care. Cloud growth concerns and record capex of $37.5 billion spooked investors. Tesla posted adjusted EPS of $0.50 (beating the $0.45 estimate) but reported its first annual revenue decline ever.

Thursday was the reckoning. Microsoft cratered 10%—its worst single day since March 2020 per CNBC. The move dragged the entire tech sector lower, with the Nasdaq shedding 1.6% and the S&P 500 falling 0.9%. But here’s what made this week interesting: industrials held firm. IBM popped 7% on software strength. Caterpillar climbed 4% after an earnings beat and data centre demand optimism. The Dow actually finished green (+0.01%) while tech bled—when’s the last time that happened on a Big Tech earnings week?

By Friday, the market settled into an uneasy calm. The S&P held near 6,970, investors digested the earnings deluge, and attention turned to what comes next. The message was clear: this market rewards execution and punishes anything less than perfection.

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Sentiment watch: The calm before the storm 😶‍🌫️

Sentiment indicators spent the week in contested territory—not quite fearful, not quite greedy. The market’s in a standoff. Bulls have earnings momentum in select names, record index levels, and economic resilience. Bears have Microsoft’s miss, sticky yields, rich valuations, and a Fed that won’t budge.

That tension is unstable. It’s waiting for a catalyst to release it in either direction. Strong earnings from the remaining reporters could tip the scales toward greed and unlock another leg up. Weak guidance or a hot jobs report flips it back to fear and triggers the first real correction of 2026.

What’s telling? Positioning remains cautious even as indexes grind higher. The VIX spiked notably on Thursday per Yahoo Finance data. Nobody wants to be caught flat-footed when the narrative shifts—because everyone knows it will.

The market’s not picking sides yet. It’s watching, waiting, and rotating selectively into names with visible earnings paths while punishing anything with execution risk.