Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Once again, good data seems to have been bad news for markets. U.S. stocks fell overnight, with the Dow snapping a three-day winning streak, following a better-than-expected jobs report for January.
Jobs grew by 130,000 in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January nonfarm payrolls report, which was delayed on account of a partial government shutdown that ended Feb. 3.
The numbers blew past expectations of 55,000 additions by Dow Jones-polled economists, and mark a sharp jump from December’s revised 48,000.
The strong jobs report reduced the likelihood of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, dampening market sentiment.
The report had some red flags though: Gains in job growth remained highly concentrated, mostly in health care-related sectors, raising questions over the ability of displaced and new workers to be able to get hired.
The revised BLS release puts job gains last year at just 15,00 which, in the words of Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, means: “Zero. Zip. Nada.”
With such an unclear picture, investors are likely to adopt a wait and see approach in assessing the jobs market.
AI-related fears also continued to sweep through stock markets, pulling shares of software companies lower Wednesday. ServiceNow and Salesforce led losses overnight, retreating more than 5% and over 4%, respectively. OpenAI and SK Telecom, meanwhile, are looking to set up a data in South Korea.
Things aren’t looking much better on the crypto front either, with bitcoin on pace to be in the red for a fourth straight week. The digital coin was last hovering around the $67,000 mark.
Over in Asia, Singapore is set to release its budget later in the day.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
What you need to know today
The House on Wednesday passed a resolution disapproving of President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada, a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and a rare Republican rebuke of the president’s signature economic policy.
AI fears, jobs data hit U.S. stocks. All three key Wall Street indexes slid Wednesday after the January jobs report failed to assuage investors’ concerns about the labor market, and AI-related jitters continued to drag software stocks down. European stocks closed mixed as investors assessed a slate of corporate earnings, including from Dutch brewer Heineken, which said it would cut thousands of jobs over the next two years.
Musk’s xAI undergoes reorganization. The SpaceX CEO said in an X post Wednesday that the firm’s xAI artificial intelligence venture implemented a reorganization that “required parting ways with some people,” but it was still “hiring aggressively.”
[PRO] Boom for funds that buffer against market drops. Investors seeking protection from market losses have piled into these products, and demand for them is expected to continue, according to Morningstar analysts.
And finally…
French founder of artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, attends the Viva Technology show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles in Paris, France, on May 22, 2024.
Chesnot | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Europe’s answer to OpenAI announces billion-dollar AI infrastructure push in Sweden
French AI startup Mistral said on Wednesday it will invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.43 billion) into digital infrastructure in Sweden, including AI data centers.
Founded in 2023, Mistral has emerged as one of Europe’s leading AI companies and raised a 1.7 billion euro funding round in September, hitting an 11.7 billion euro valuation. Dutch chip equipment maker ASML
contributed 1.3 billion euros to the round.
The company also counts big tech giants Nvidia and Microsoft as investors, alongside DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, and Index Ventures.
— Kai Nicol-Schwarz