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Equities rally with US macroeconomic data in focus

US stocks extended their New Year rally on Tuesday, with major indices pushed higher by renewed strength in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related names, even as services data signalled a moderating pace of growth in the world’s largest economy. Asian markets were trading mixed on Wednesday, with profit-taking in Japan and weakness in Hong Kong offset by another record high in South Korea’s Kospi, while European equities ticked higher after solid but slowing private-sector activity and easing German inflation. Gold prices, which recently hit record levels, edged lower as investors shifted their focus from geopolitical tensions towards a busy US data calendar, culminating in the December jobs report on Friday. Attention on Wednesday will centre on key US labour market and business sentiment indicators, including the ADP report, ISM survey and JOLTS job openings.

Data 7 gennaio 2026
Autore Shane Strowmatt, Senior Investment Writer
Tempo di lettura 5 minuto

Major US stock indices rose further on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1% to 49,462.08 points and briefly moving above 49,500 points, putting the benchmark within sight of the 50,000-point mark. The broader S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to 6944.82 points, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.9% to 25,639.71 points, supported again by strong demand for semiconductor stocks following an upbeat third-quarter revenue target from US chipmaker Microchip Technology, whose shares jumped almost 12%. Other chip producers including Micron Technology, NXP Semiconductor, Texas Instruments and Analog Devices climbed between 5% and 10%, although Nvidia shares reversed modest gains after chief executive Jensen Huang announced the start of production of a new chip platform and highlighted robust demand at the CES technology fair in Las Vegas. In macroeconomic news, US service sector activity expanded solidly but at a slower pace in December, with the S&P Global US Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) easing to 52.5 from 54.1 in November, according to data released on Tuesday. New business rose only marginally, marking the weakest increase in 20 months, while export orders registered their sharpest decline since last May amid uncertainty over demand, squeezed client budgets and the impact of tariffs.

Asia stocks mixed as Korea outperforms

Asian equity markets traded mixed on Wednesday, with most major indices easing after earlier gains, while South Korea’s Kospi rose by 0.6% to a new record on renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related stocks. Semiconductor leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix advanced as investors anticipated stronger earnings across the chip industry, helped by an overnight rise in US technology shares after Nvidia detailed its next generation of AI processors. In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell around 1% as investors took profits near record levels, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong retreated 1.3%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 0.5%. Australian shares were modestly higher after November inflation slowed but remained above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range, reinforcing expectations that interest rates are likely to stay on hold for now.

Gold eases as focus shifts to US data

Gold prices slipped 0.9% to USD 4460 an ounce on Wednesday, with traders increasingly focusing on a busy calendar of US economic releases this week, including the December jobs report on Friday, despite elevated geopolitical tensions involving Venezuela, Greenland and new Chinese export controls to Japan. The metal had previously risen more than 4% over three sessions and is coming off its strongest annual performance since 1979, when it repeatedly set record highs on the back of strong central-bank demand and inflows into bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. Expectations for further US interest-rate cuts in 2026 were reinforced after Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran argued that monetary policy is restraining growth and that rates would need to be reduced by more than 1 percentage point, extending last year’s three cuts that supported non-yielding assets such as precious metals. Silver, which surged nearly 150% last year and is up 12% so far this year amid supply constraints and robust retail demand in China, fell more than 2% to USD 79.6933 an ounce on Wednesday.

Eurozone growth slows but quarter solid

Euro area private sector output continued to expand in December, with the HCOB Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index easing to 51.5 from November’s 52.8, still leaving the average for the final quarter at 52.3, the strongest since the second quarter of 2023, according to data released on Tuesday. The services sector likewise remained in expansion, although the HCOB Eurozone Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 52.4 from 53.6, as overall demand growth moderated, export orders declined at the fastest rate since March 2025 and new business rose at the slowest pace since September. Input cost inflation accelerated to a nine-month high across both manufacturing and services, even as the pace of output price increases stayed unchanged and relatively subdued. The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.2% on Tuesday to 5933.85 points, while Germany’s DAX added 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.3%. The Swiss Market Index outperformed its continental peers, closing 0.7% higher.

German inflation slows in December

Germany’s year-on-year inflation rate is expected to have been 1.8% in December, down from 2.3% in November, according to provisional Destatis data released on Tuesday. The consumer price index was unchanged compared with November, meaning there was no month-on-month increase in prices. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, is estimated at 2.4% year-on-year in December, while services prices are expected to have risen by 3.5% and goods prices by 0.4%, with energy down 1.3% and food up 0.8%. On an annual average basis, the consumer price index is projected to have increased by 2.2% in 2025 compared with 2024, and the harmonised index of consumer prices by 2.3%.

UK services growth stays subdued

UK services activity edged higher in December, with the S&P Global UK Services PMI Business Activity Index rising to 51.4 from 51.3 in November, remaining well below its long-run average of 54.2, according to data released on Tuesday. New business returned to growth after a slight fall in the previous survey period, with firms reporting stronger pipelines at home and a moderate pick-up in export orders, particularly from the US, while demand from the EU stayed weak. Despite the modest improvement in workloads and a first increase in backlogs since May 2023, staffing levels fell for a fifteenth consecutive month as companies cited high wage pressures, margin squeezes and cautious hiring policies.

Corporate and economic calendar

Corporate news in focus: There is no major corporate news scheduled today.

Economic data in focus: German retail sales (08:00), German unemployment rate (09:55), euro-area Consumer Price Index (11:00), US ADP National Employment Report (14:15), US ISM Purchasing Managers’ Index (16:00) and US JOLTS jobs report (16:00).

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