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ISM Manufacturing PMI Holds at 52.4% in February, But Input Price Surge Raises Fed Rate-Cut Doubts

The Institute for Supply Management reported that U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for the second consecutive month in February, with the PMI reading at 52.4 percent, but the report's input prices sub-index soared at its fastest pace since 2022, reinforcing investor concerns that renewed inflationary pressures — now compounded by surging oil prices from the Iran conflict — could lead the Federal Reserve to delay or abandon interest rate cuts in the months ahead.

Producer Price Index Surges in January, Crushing Rate-Cut Hopes and Sending Markets Lower

January's Producer Price Index rose 0.5% against a 0.3% consensus estimate, while core PPI surged 0.8% — more than double expectations. The hotter-than-forecast wholesale inflation data reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will hold rates higher for longer, sending the Dow down more than 700 points and extending what is shaping up to be the S&P 500's worst monthly performance since March 2025.

Nvidia Posts Record Quarter but Shares Slide on AI Spending Concerns and Macro Headwinds

Nvidia reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $68.13 billion and EPS of $1.62, both surpassing consensus estimates by wide margins — with data center revenue alone climbing 75% year-over-year to $62.3 billion. Despite what Morgan Stanley called the largest and cleanest beat in semiconductor history, shares fell more than 5% over two sessions as investors grew increasingly uneasy about whether hyperscaler AI capital expenditure is sustainable at current levels.

Nvidia Posts Record $68 Billion Quarter but Shares Fall as Wall Street Demands More

Nvidia delivered its largest quarterly revenue beat in semiconductor history, reporting $68.13 billion in fiscal Q4 2026 revenue — up 73% year over year — and adjusted EPS of $1.62, topping the $1.53 consensus. Yet shares slid nearly 5% on Thursday as investors, skeptical of AI capital expenditure sustainability, demanded proof of monetization rather than infrastructure growth alone.

Tariff Regime in Flux as Trump Replaces Struck-Down IEEPA Levies With 10–15% Section 122 Duties

Following a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated President Trump's broad emergency tariffs imposed under IEEPA, the administration swiftly replaced them with a 10% across-the-board import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirming the rate will rise to 15% for certain trading partners. The legal and economic uncertainty is reverberating across equity, commodity, and currency markets.

Nvidia Reports Fiscal Q4 Earnings After the Bell, AI Industry Watches Closely

Nvidia is set to release its fiscal fourth-quarter results after Wednesday's closing bell, with analysts expecting revenue of approximately $65.7 billion — a roughly 67% year-over-year surge — fueled by relentless demand for its Blackwell AI chips. The report is widely regarded as a referendum on the sustainability of the global AI infrastructure spending boom, with hyperscalers committing a collective $650 billion in AI capital expenditures for 2026.

Trump State of the Union Defends Tariff Regime, Vows Replacements After Supreme Court Setback

President Donald Trump delivered the longest televised State of the Union address in modern history on Tuesday evening, defending his sweeping tariff agenda and pledging to implement replacement levies under alternative legal authority following last week's Supreme Court ruling that struck down the majority of his IEEPA-based import taxes. Markets opened broadly higher Wednesday, suggesting investors interpreted the speech as providing policy clarity rather than fresh uncertainty.

Meta Seals Multiyear AMD Partnership, Deploying 6 Gigawatts of Instinct GPUs for AI Data Centers

Meta Platforms has inked a landmark multiyear agreement with Advanced Micro Devices to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct graphics processing units across its artificial intelligence data center infrastructure. The deal, which includes a performance-based warrant granting Meta the right to acquire up to 160 million AMD shares, lifted AMD stock by more than 6% in Tuesday trading and signals a significant diversification away from Nvidia among hyperscale cloud operators.

Trump Imposes 10% Global Tariff Under Section 122, Rattling Markets and Prompting EU Warning

President Donald Trump has activated a 10% blanket tariff on imports from virtually every country under the rarely invoked Section 122 of U.S. trade law, following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down his earlier reciprocal tariff regime. The European Commission responded swiftly, warning that the new levies are not conducive to fair transatlantic trade and threatening retaliatory measures, sending major U.S. equity indexes sharply lower before a partial recovery on Tuesday.