<div id="readability-page-1"><div> MARKET WRAPS Watch For: EU money supply, business and consumer surveys; trading updates from SAP, Nokia, ABB, Roche, H&amp;M, Sanofi, Deutsche Bank, ING, STMicroelectronics, Givaudan, Lloyds Banking Group, Easyjet, Antofagasta, Glencore Opening Call: European stock futures traded higher early Thursday. Asian stock benchmarks advanced; the dollar fell; Treasury yields largely rose; while oil and gold futures gained. Equities: Stock futures point to a higher open in European markets on Thursday as investors continued to watch for corporate earnings. Analysts said they were focused on tech companies' capital expenditure plans. &#34;Investors' reticence to owning technology stocks from earlier in the year is being reversed, and that's in anticipation of future earnings,&#34; said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. Forex: The euro's strength against the dollar is an inevitable consequence of flows into European equities, UBS strategist Gerry Fowler said. Though a stronger euro will weigh on the earnings of companies that produce domestically and sell to international markets, strong inflows to equities should support market performance. Because of those flows, &#34;to a certain extent the euro going up is going to be coincident with performance, if not driving performance,&#34; Fowler said. Bonds: Low-risk bonds with intermediate maturities are the preferred option for fixed-income strategies, Touchstone's Crit Thomas said. He suggests focusing on the &#34;belly of the curve,&#34; specifically maturities of five to seven years, while being cautious about longer durations due to persistent policy risks and a lack of fiscal discipline. &#34;We're putting an emphasis on quality,&#34; he said. Thomas said investment-grade corporates are offering attractive yields and have shown resilience to macro and policy shocks. Energy: Oil advanced early Thursday amid tensions over Iran. Trump on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Iran, warning that a &#34;massive armada&#34; was headed to the Middle East and that time was running out for Tehran to reach a nuclear deal. This has raised the spectre of disruptions to Iran's oil supply, ANZ said. This also follows threats of U.S. intervention amid a crackdown on protests in Iran earlier this month, the bank added. Metals: Gold and silver hit fresh record highs in Asia. Geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated, Saxo Bank's Ole Hansen said. This is &#34;amplified by an increasingly unpredictable U.S. political backdrop, he said. - Markets are focused on copper's supply and demand dynamics ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Sucden Financial said. &#34;Rising LME and CME inventories alongside an increase in Shanghai Futures Exchange-deliverable tonnage suggest that commercial players are front-loading deliveries ahead of the holiday period, reducing exposure while liquidity thins.&#34; Sucden Financial expects prices to remain volatile but range-bound in the near term as inventories rebalance and spreads adjust. - Steel mills are expected to accelerate restocking following recent price drops, providing a support floor for iron ore prices, Nanhua Futures said. Investors are also closely watching disruptions to shipments and production caused by the monsoon and rainy season in the Southern Hemisphere, it added. TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES Why Powell Won't Say if He Is Staying on the Fed Board For the fourth time since summer, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declined Wednesday to say whether he will remain on the central bank's board after his chairmanship ends May 15. &#34;Again, I don't want to get into this,&#34; Powell said at a news conference after the Fed's latest meeting. What the Slide in the Dollar Means for Trade, Travel and Investment Carol Tricoche shielded her clients from a big risk in December, when the Oregon travel adviser locked in a 10-person group's coming five-night stay in London at the then-exchange rate. Since then, the value of the dollar has plunged. &#34;If the dollar changes, your hotel cost goes up. With me, you're locked in,&#34; Tricoche said, adding that the currency's recent weakness has added to pressure on less-affluent Americans hoping to go abroad. &#34;Those aren't the folks I'm seeing right now.&#34; Fed Holds Rates Steady for First Time Since July WASHINGTON-The Federal Reserve entered a new holding pattern on interest rates Wednesday and signaled little urgency to resume cuts after contentious reductions at officials' three previous meetings. The decision to hold the benchmark federal-funds rate steady in a range between 3.5% and 3.75% was approved on a 10-2 vote. Talking or Fighting, All of Iran's Options Are Bad President Trump's ultimatum to Iran to negotiate away its nuclear program or face a possible attack leaves Tehran with a daunting dilemma: Either path risks putting the already weakened regime in a more precarious position. &#34;Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal-NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS-one that is good for all parties. Time is running out,&#34; Trump posted on social media Wednesday. &#34;The next attack will be far worse!&#34; Deutsche Bank Offices Searched by German Prosecutors in Money-Laundering Probe German prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank's offices in Frankfurt and Berlin as part of an investigation into allegations of money laundering. The Frankfurt prosecutor's office said Wednesday that it was conducting a preliminary investigation into managers and employees of Deutsche Bank on suspected money laundering. The bank maintained business relationships with foreign companies that are suspected of having been used for money laundering in other investigations, the prosecutor's office added. Meta Reports Record Sales, Massive Spending Hike on AI Buildout Meta Platforms reported record sales in the fourth quarter and a massive increase in projected 2026 spending, a sign the company has no plans to slow down an ambitious artificial-intelligence expansion. Shares rose more than 8% in after-hours trading. The company said capital spending would reach as much as $135 billion in 2026, about 20% higher than Wall Street expectations and nearly double last year's investment level. The company's advertising and other units brought in $59.9 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase. Microsoft's Earnings Surge Is Overshadowed by Data-Center Spending Microsoft, one of the biggest winners of the artificial-intelligence boom, showed Wednesday how its new deal with OpenAI is paying off but also indicated that it is spending more than what investors expected. The company posted revenue of $81.3 billion for its second fiscal quarter, topping expectations. The company's closely watched Azure cloud business grew by 39%, matching Wall Street estimates, but putting it slightly lower than the growth from its previous quarter. Tesla to Invest $2 Billion in Elon Musk's xAI, Cancel Two EV Models Tesla reported a 61% drop in profit for the fourth quarter after losing its edge as the world's leading electric-vehicle maker and said it would invest $2 billion in Elon Musk's private artificial-intelligence firm, after shareholders' views were mixed on the move. The company said it entered into an agreement on Jan. 16 to invest in xAI's Series E funding round. Tesla shareholders had previously voted down a proposal that asked the board to invest in the startup, with more &#34;no&#34; votes and abstentions than &#34;yes&#34; votes. Write to singaporeeditors@dowjones.com Expected Major Events for Thursday 00:01/UK: Dec UK monthly automotive manufacturing figures 00:01/UK: Dec Zoopla House Price Index 05:30/NED: Jan Producer confidence survey 07:00/EU: 4Q New Commercial Vehicle Registrations in Europe statistics (EU27 + EFTA3) 07:00/SWE: 4Q Flash GDP 07:00/NOR: Dec Credit Indicator C2 07:00/SWI: Dec Trade Balance 07:30/HUN: Dec PPI 07:30/HUN: Dec Trade Balance 08:00/SWE: Jan Quarterly Business Tendency Survey 08:00/SWE: Jan Consumer Tendency Survey 08:00/SVK: Jan Economic sentiment indicator 08:00/SVK: Jan Business tendency survey 08:00/SPN: Dec Retail Sales 08:30/SWE: Swedish repo rate announcement 09:00/EU: Dec Monetary developments in the euro area (M3) 09:00/ITA: Dec Foreign Trade non-EU 09:00/ICE: Jan CPI 10:00/BEL: 4Q Preliminary GDP 10:00/CYP: Nov Industrial Production Index 10:00/EU: Jan Business &amp; Consumer Surveys - Business Climate Indicator &amp; Economic Sentiment Indicator 10:00/GRE: Dec PPI 10:00/ITA: Nov Industrial turnover 10:00/MLT: Nov Registered Unemployed 10:00/MLT: Dec Registered Unemployed 10:00/GRE: Dec Labour Force Survey 10:00/GRE: Nov Turnover Index in Retail Trade 10:30/BEL: Jan CPI 11:00/FRA: 4Q Claimant count and job advertisements collected by France Travail 11:00/IRL: 4Q Preliminary GDP Estimate 11:00/POR: Dec Retail trade 16:59/SWI: 3Q Locational &amp; Consolidated banking statistics, preliminary data All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones. Write to us at newsletters@dowjones.com We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions. This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today. <pre></pre> (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 29, 2026 00:15 ET (05:15 GMT)Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.</div></div>

European stock futures are set to open higher as investors focus on corporate earnings, particularly in the tech sector. The euro's strength against the dollar is linked to inflows into European equities, despite potential earnings impacts on domestic companies. Low-risk bonds with intermediate maturities are favored, while gold and silver prices hit record highs amid geopolitical uncertainty. Oil prices are rising due to tensions with Iran, and analysts expect volatility in copper and iron ore prices as markets adjust ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

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