Overnight US stocks | The three major stock indexes rise and fall differently, Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) surpasses Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) in market value after seven years.

On Wednesday, the three major indexes showed mixed performances. During the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 49,621.43 points at one point, while the S&P 500 index rose to a high of 6,965.69 points, both reaching historical highs during the trading session. As of the close, the Dow fell by 466.00 points, a decrease of 0.94%, to 48,996.08 points, while the Nasdaq rose by 37.10 points, an increase of 0.16%, to 23,584.27 points, and the S&P 500 index fell by 23.89 points, a decrease of 0.34%, to 6,920.93 points. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) rose by 1%, Intel Corporation (INTC.US) rose by 6.4%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TSM.US) fell by 2.6%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index closed down by 1.58%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) fell by 2.7%, and iQIYI, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (IQ.US) rose by 5.4%. In European stocks, the Germany DAX30 index rose by 215.19 points, an increase of 0.86%, to 25,112.13 points, while the UK FTSE 100 index fell by 75.07 points, a decrease of 0.74%, to 10,047.66 points, and the French CAC40 index fell by 3.51 points, a decrease of 0.04%, to 8,233.92 points. The Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 8.13 points, a decrease of 0.14%, to 5,923.66 points, the Spanish IBEX35 index fell by 58.80 points, a decrease of 0.33%, to 17,588.30 points, and the Italian FTSE MIB index fell by 158.93 points, a decrease of 0.35%, to 45,594.50 points. The US dollar index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies, rose by 0.11% to close at 98.683 in the forex market. At the close of the New York trading session, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1682 US dollars, lower than the previous trading day's 1.1690 US dollars; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3464 US dollars, lower than the previous trading day's 1.3502 US dollars. 1 US dollar exchanged for 156.74 Japanese yen, higher than the previous trading day's 156.63 Japanese yen; 1 US dollar exchanged for 0.7975 Swiss francs, higher than the previous trading day's 0.7954 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar exchanged for 1.3845 Canadian dollars, higher than the previous trading day's 1.3805 Canadian dollars; 1 US dollar exchanged for 9.1819 Swedish krona, lower than the previous trading day's 9.1966 Swedish krona. In cryptocurrency, Bitcoin fell below $91,000, dropping nearly 3% intraday, while Ethereum fell by over 4.6% to $3,143.98. In precious metals, spot gold fell by 0.87% to $4,455.42 per ounce, with a maximum intraday decline of 1.7% to $4,422.89 per ounce; spot silver fell by 3.77% to $78.2 per ounce. In crude oil, the price of Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $1.14 to $55.99 per barrel, a decrease of 2.0%; while the price of Brent Crude Oil futures for March delivery on the London market fell by 74 cents to $59.96 per barrel, a decrease of 1.22%. Macro News: The US government updates economic data release schedule, 2025 GDP figures will be available in mid-February. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the US Department of Commerce announced that personal income and expenditures data for October and November 2025 will be released on January 22 at 10 a.m. local time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not released complete CPI data for October, and for the missing data, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will estimate using the average of September and November CPI data. Additionally, the initial GDP figures for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025 will be released on February 20 at 8:30 a.m. local time. The personal income and expenditure report for December 2025 will also be released on February 20 at 8:30 a.m. local time. The release of the final GDP figures for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025, as well as the personal income and expenditure report for January, which were originally scheduled for February 26, will be rescheduled due to delays in receiving sufficient source data. Trump: Military contractors should not pay dividends or buy back stock, executive salaries should not exceed $5 million. US President Trump posted on social media: "US defense contractors are currently sacrificing factory and equipment investments to pay huge dividends to shareholders and carry out massive stock buybacks. This situation can no longer be allowed or tolerated! Additionally, given the slow delivery of critical equipment to our military and allies by these companies, the compensation packages for defense industry executives are too high and unreasonable. From now on, these executives must build new modern production facilities for the delivery and maintenance of this critical equipment, as well as for the production of future military equipment models. Until they address this issue, no executive's salary should exceed $5 million. Furthermore, the maintenance and repair of sold equipment is too slow and must be improved immediately. Until these issues are addressed, I will not allow defense companies to pay dividends or buy back stock, and the same applies to compensation and executive salaries. Funds from dividends, stock buybacks, and excessive executive compensation must be used to build military equipment, instead of borrowing from Financial Institutions, Inc. or obtaining funds from the government." White House: Trump administration is actively discussing the possibility of purchasing Greenland. White House Press Secretary Levit said that the Trump administration is "actively" discussing the possibility of buying Greenland, with Trump preferring diplomatic solutions but "keeping multiple options open." Following the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro by the US, Greenland quickly became the focus of international news, rekindling Trump's interest in this Arctic island. Levit said that the purchase of Greenland is "something the President and his national security team are actively discussing," and that Greenland is "critical to the national security of the United States." The EU responded by saying they "fully support and stand in solidarity" with Greenland. European Council President CoStar Group, Inc. said, "Greenland belongs to its people. Without Denmark, there can be no decisions on Denmark and Greenland." Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: Tight London stocks will lead to continued volatility in silver prices. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicts that after the historic rise in silver prices in 2025, the market will continue to experience intense volatility, advising clients who are averse to volatility to be cautious. Recent price fluctuations are attributed to the loose policy of the Federal Reserve and private investor fund inflows driven by diversified investment trends, but Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. points out that the significant liquidity constraints in London have greatly amplified these fluctuations. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. says that with stock levels decreasing, the market conditions are there for a potential "squeeze," where investor funds flow into the London Bullion Market to absorb remaining silver, leading to an acceleration in price increases; when the supply shortage eases, prices will sharply fall. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. still believes that the US is unlikely to impose tariffs on silver. Individual Stock News: After seven years, the market value of Alphabet Inc. Class C surpasses Apple Inc. Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US) market value has surpassed Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) for the first time since 2019. As of Wednesday's close, the market value of Alphabet Inc. Class C was $3.88 trillion, while Apple Inc. was at $3.84 trillion. The reversal in market value rankings highlights the diverging strategies of Alphabet Inc. Class C and Apple Inc. in the field of artificial intelligence. Alphabet Inc. Class C ended the year as one of the brightest tech stocks on Wall Street in 2025. In November, the company released the seventh-generation Tensor processor Ironwood, a custom AI chip that could potentially serve as an alternative to NVIDIA Corporation products. In December, Alphabet Inc. Class C's Gemini 3 received unanimous praise from the industry. Meanwhile, since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT by the end of 2022, Apple Inc. has been absent from this competition. Apple Inc. originally planned to launch a new generation of Siri AI assistant last year but ultimately delayed the release. Raymond James Financial, Inc. downgraded its rating on Apple Inc. this week, noting that the company will struggle to achieve growth in 2026. Trump singles out Thunderobot, threatens to cut off its business with the Department of Defense. US President Trump stated that, according to the Department of Defense, defense contractor Thunderobot (RTX.US) has shown the least proactive response to the needs of the Department of Defense, with the slowest capacity expansion, and most of its funding going to shareholders rather than meeting the needs and requirements of the US military. Trump threatened that Thunderobot must either increase investment, for example, in factories and equipment, or stop doing business with the Department of Defense. He added that if Thunderobot wishes to continue cooperation with the US government, no stock buybacks should be conducted until the restructuring is implemented previously they had spent billions of dollars on this. Arm establishes Physical AI division, Siasun Robot & Automation market welcomes a "new player." Executives at chip technology company Arm (ARM.US) revealed that the company has completed a reorganization and established a Physical Artificial Intelligence (Physical AI) division to expand its market share in the Siasun Robot & Automation market. At the CES exhibition, there have been many developments in the humanoid Siasun Robot & Automation field, prompting Arm to establish a division focused on this sector. Overall, Arm now operates three major business lines: Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, Edge Computing (including its mobile devices and PC products), and Physical Artificial Intelligence (covering its automotive business). Arm's executives believe that the Siasun Robot & Automation market has significant growth potential in the long term. Drew Henry, head of the newly established Physical AI division, stated that Physical AI solutions can "fundamentally improve labor efficiency, saving time," and may have a significant impact on GDP as a result. Trump's new housing policy causes disturbances, Blackstone Inc. stock price plunges in response. US President Trump announced that he will take measures to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes as one of the solutions to address housing affordability issues. Last month, Trump announced plans to introduce "some of the most radical housing reform programs in American history." Following Trump's remarks on housing policy, the stock price of Blackstone (BX.US) fell by 9.3% at one point. The company is a major investor in single-family homes in the US. In 2021, Blackstone Inc. spent $6 billion to acquire Home Partners of America, increasing its rental property portfolio by 17,000 units. Recently, Blackstone Inc. acquired Tricon Residential, headquartered in Toronto, for $3.5 billion, adding 38,000 US rental homes to its portfolio. In early 2025, investors of all sizes accounted for about 30% of single-family home purchases. However, small investors account for over 90% of the investor market, with large institutional investors owning only about 2% of single-family rental homes nationally.