Will the Stock Market Open for President’s Day?
Stocks slipped sharply on Thursday but stabilized on Friday ahead of the Monday President's Day holiday.
Quick overview
- President's Day on the third Monday in February results in the stock market being closed until Tuesday.
- On Friday, the stock market showed minimal movement with the Nasdaq down 0.22% and the Dow up 0.1%, while AI stocks continue to struggle.
- Inflation readings indicated a rise of only 0.2% for January, providing some stability to the market despite ongoing selloffs in tech stocks.
- Coinbase's stock surged 17% after reporting quarterly earnings, contrasting with Applied Materials' 8% gain following better-than-expected earnings estimates.
The third Monday in February is President’s Day, and the stock market is typically closed for that day, along with banks and schools, so investors will be mulling Friday’s market movement.
On Friday, the stock market closed nearly flat from the previous day, with the Nasdaq down 0.22%, the Dow up 0.1%, and the S&P gaining 0.05%. These small movements hide a wider trend of AI stocks dipping after a mixed few weeks of earnings reports.
Because of President’s Day, the stock market will remain closed until Tuesday morning. This holiday marks the birthday of George Washington, the first U.S. president. Because of the downtime, the market could open strong the following day as the latest inflation readings are processed.
Tech Stocks Struggle as Prices Rise
Thursday was rough for the stock market with sharp losses for a number of companies, and Friday served as a recovery day. Stocks stabilized slightly in the wake of the Consumer Price Index report. That data showed that inflation was hovering around 2.4% and prices rose less than anticipated- 0.2% for January.
The good news allowed stock market indices to perform slightly better on Friday, but the ongoing selloff of tech stocks (particularly AI-related stocks) is continuing. The selloff has been triggered by fears that the massive amount of money pumped into the AI field is outweighing the profitability of the sector. These fears have dragged down key AI shares, including Microsoft, AMD, Nvidia, and others in recent weeks.
Nvidia (NVDA) continued its bearish trend last week with a 2.20% decline on Friday. This movement is indicative of leading tech stocks performing much worse than the average of the index they are listed on. The Nasdaq fell 0.22% the same day.
Microsoft (MSFT) stabilized slightly on Friday after a rough week, having lost 5% between Tuesday and Thursday. The company posted strong earnings during its most recent quarterly report, but the market sentiment against extravagant AI investments hurt Microsoft’s stock performance and has kept the share price on a bearish trend during the earnings season. We anticipate further financial headwinds as AI worries persist among investors, shareholders, and analysts alike.
On Friday, Coinbase (COIN) stock jumped 17% after the crypto exchange reported its quarterly earnings. That increase was unexpected since the company reported a sharp decline in revenue for the quarter. Applied Materials (AMAT) also saw a share price jump, gaining 8% after beating earnings estimates. Corporate earnings should continue to drive market movement for now, especially with better than expected inflation and consumer price index numbers releasing recently.
- Check out our free forex signals
- Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
- Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
- Open a FREE Trading Account
- Read our latest reviews on: Avatrade, Exness, HFM and XM
Save