Trending Market News

Bitcoin fell to a 16-month low of $60,008 on February 6, 2026, amid a global selloff in technology stocks and risk assets. The cryptocurrency market has lost $2 trillion in value since peaking at $4.379 trillion in early October 2025, with over $1 trillion wiped out in the past month alone. Bitcoin is down 27% year-to-date while Ethereum has lost 36%.

• Bitcoin touched its weakest level since October 2024, before the U.S. presidential election, and is on track for a 16% weekly decline
• U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows exceeding $3 billion in January, following outflows of $2 billion in December and $7 billion in November
• Analysts attribute the decline to unwinding of overleveraged positions and poor risk management, as investors who 'assumed prices only go up' face the consequences of treating bitcoin as a 'one-way asset'

Japanese pharmaceutical stocks fell sharply on February 6 after U.S. President Trump announced TrumpRx.gov, a discount drug website resulting from deals with 16 major global drugmakers. The agreements provide 'most-favoured nation' prices to Americans in exchange for tariff exemptions, pressuring Japanese drugmakers' profit expectations.

• Sumitomo Pharma dropped 4.5%, Chugai Pharmaceutical fell 3.1%, and Takeda Pharmaceutical declined 1.5% following the announcement
• The overall drugmaker sector on the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 1.6%, becoming the second-worst performer among 33 industry sub-indexes
• The TrumpRx.gov initiative requires global drugmakers to offer discounted 'most-favoured nation' pricing to U.S. consumers in return for exemptions from U.S. tariffs

Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings announced the sale of its Kentucky bourbon brand Four Roses to U.S.-based E&J Gallo Winery for up to $775 million, with the deal expected to close in Q2. Kirin, which acquired Four Roses in 2002, is divesting the brand to reallocate resources toward core businesses and healthcare operations. Gallo has confirmed no operational changes are planned for the bourbon brand.

• The $775 million transaction allows Kirin to exit the struggling spirits sector and focus resources on businesses leveraging its organizational capabilities, particularly healthcare
• Four Roses has experienced strong growth since Kirin's 2002 acquisition, primarily in the U.S. market
• E&J Gallo plans to maintain Four Roses' current operations, production, and distribution without changes

Coty withdrew its full-year financial guidance as new interim CEO Markus Strobel implements a strategic refocus on core brands to address disappointing performance over the past 18 months. The beauty company faces intensifying competition from newer brands and larger rivals like L'Oréal, particularly in its struggling consumer cosmetics division. Strobel is demanding sharper focus and improved execution through a 'Coty. Curated' strategy to reduce complexity and concentrate resources on key brand assets.

• Coty reported Q2 revenue of $1.68 billion (up 0.5% year-over-year), slightly above expectations, but forecasts Q3 gross margins to decline 200-300 basis points from the prior year
• The company's net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio reached a nine-year low of 2.7x after selling its remaining 25.8% Wella stake to KKR for $750 million in December, using proceeds to pay down debt
• Coty faces significant headwinds including losing its exclusive Gucci fragrance license in 2028 to L'Oréal and competition from affordable brands like Elf Beauty, while potentially divesting consumer brands like CoverGirl and Rimmel

Strategy reported a $12.4 billion fourth-quarter loss as bitcoin's price collapse severely impacted the world's largest corporate bitcoin holder. Bitcoin has nearly halved from its October peak of around $128,000 to current levels of $64,000, forcing Strategy to cut its 2025 earnings forecast and establish a dividend reserve.

• Strategy holds 713,502 bitcoins as of February 1 at a total cost of $54.26 billion ($76,052 per bitcoin), resulting in a loss of $42.93 per share
• U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced combined outflows of approximately $9 billion in November and December amid market turbulence
• Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair intensified selling pressure, with analysts predicting a smaller Fed balance sheet that would negatively impact risk assets like cryptocurrencies

Roblox forecast fiscal 2026 bookings of $8.28-$8.55 billion, exceeding Wall Street's $7.87 billion estimate, as the gaming platform pursues 10% of the global gaming market. The company's average daily active users grew 69% year-over-year to 144 million in Q4, though new age verification features have modestly impacted engagement and bookings growth.

• Q4 bookings reached $2.22 billion, beating estimates of $2.05 billion, driven by strong player spending and engagement momentum
• Margins will be flat to slightly down in 2026 due to investments in safety initiatives, server infrastructure upgrades, and higher developer payouts
• Age verification features implemented in 2025 caused a mid-single-digit impact on engagement growth and low-single-digit impact on bookings; company will discontinue annual forecasts after 2026 due to difficulty predicting viral content performance

Reddit forecasted first-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations, driven by AI-powered enhancements to its advertising platform that are attracting more marketers. The social media company's fourth-quarter revenue surged 70% to $726 million, beating estimates, while daily active users grew 19% to 121.4 million. The company announced its first dividend and continues to compete with Meta through AI-driven ad automation tools.

• First-quarter revenue forecast of $595-$605 million exceeds analyst estimates of $577.2 million, with adjusted EBITDA guidance of $210-$220 million above the $202.9 million estimate
• Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 70% year-over-year to $726 million, surpassing expectations of $665.4 million, while global average revenue per user increased 42%
• Reddit's AI-powered ad tools include an AI copywriter for platform-specific ad copy and Max campaigns in beta that automate bidding and creative selection to compete with Meta's offerings

Amazon announced plans to invest approximately $200 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, a significant increase from the estimated $144.67 billion. This investment reflects the company's aggressive push to expand AI infrastructure and cloud services capacity, while also enhancing its e-commerce capabilities. The spending aligns with broader Big Tech trends, as the top four hyperscalers are collectively expected to spend over $500 billion this year on AI-related infrastructure.

• Amazon's AWS cloud unit, while contributing only 15-20% of total sales, generates over 60% of the company's operating profit and faces strong enterprise demand constrained by capacity limits
• The company launched 'Rainier', an AI infrastructure project bringing nearly 500,000 in-house Trainium2 chips online, primarily for use by Anthropic's Claude chatbot
• Wall Street is demanding that AI spending increases demonstrate commensurate financial returns, with investors punishing Microsoft last week while rewarding Google and Meta for showing strong cloud revenue growth

Coca-Cola announced it will discontinue its frozen products, including the Minute Maid frozen line, in the U.S. and Canada by Q1 2026 in response to shifting consumer preferences. The company is refocusing its portfolio on zero-sugar beverages and premium products as it faces declining demand for traditional packaged foods and sugary drinks in key markets.

• Frozen products will be phased out in Q1 2026, with remaining inventory sold while supplies last
• The move comes as Coca-Cola deals with weak demand for packaged foods in the U.S. and shifts toward zero-sugar and premium lines like Fairlife milk
• Growing demand for low-calorie products has dragged sales of trademark Coke, while local product preferences have impacted demand in India and China

Saudi Arabia's national airline Saudia is in early-stage negotiations with Boeing and Airbus to purchase at least 150 narrowbody and widebody aircraft, according to Bloomberg News. The deal would represent a significant order for both manufacturers as Saudia expands its fleet. Reuters has not independently verified the reported negotiations.

• The potential order involves at least 150 jets including both narrowbody and widebody aircraft models
• Negotiations are still in early stages with both Boeing and Airbus competing for the deal
• This would be a record-sized aircraft purchase for the Saudi flagship carrier as part of the kingdom's aviation expansion plans

Bayer announced that its experimental blood thinner asundexian reduced stroke recurrence risk by 26% in a Phase III trial involving over 12,000 patients, marking a significant turnaround for the drug and CEO Bill Anderson's restructuring efforts. The study combined asundexian with standard antiplatelet therapy and showed reassuring bleeding risk data. Bayer plans to seek regulatory approval for the drug.

• The Oceanic-Stroke trial compared asundexian plus antiplatelet therapy against antiplatelet therapy alone in patients who previously suffered strokes or similar brain blood vessel blockages
• The drug previously failed a late-stage trial in a broader patient group at risk of stroke but who had not yet experienced one, making this result a significant comeback
• Rivals Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb (partnered with Johnson & Johnson) have competing compounds in development but have not yet reported late-stage stroke prevention results

Shell is considering multi-billion dollar investments in offshore natural gas projects in Venezuela, with production potentially starting within the next few years. CEO Wael Sawan stated these opportunities could be activated within months, pending regulatory approvals. The move signals Shell's strategic interest in Venezuela's energy sector despite the country's political and economic challenges.

• Investment scale: Shell is evaluating opportunities worth 'a few billion dollars' in Venezuelan offshore natural gas fields
• Timeline: Production could begin in the next couple of years, with projects potentially activated within months once approvals are secured
• Current status: The company is awaiting necessary regulatory approvals before proceeding with the investments

CVS Health announced it will replace Amgen's Prolia and Eli Lilly's Forteo bone disease treatments with lower-cost biosimilar and generic alternatives on its preferred drug lists starting April 1. The move is expected to reduce prescription costs by over 50% and follows CVS's successful 2024 strategy of replacing AbbVie's Humira with biosimilars, which achieved a 96% member switch rate.

• CVS will add biosimilars of Amgen's Prolia (including Ospomyv and Stoboclo) and generics of Lilly's Forteo to major national commercial formularies, with Prolia generating $1.05 billion in global sales for Amgen in 2025
• The switch is projected to lower costs by more than 50% per prescription, building on CVS's biosimilar strategy that has generated $1.5 billion in gross savings to date
• CVS's Caremark, along with Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's Optum Rx, controls 80% of the U.S. prescription drug market as pharmacy benefit managers

Cheniere Energy, the largest U.S. LNG exporter, has applied to build a 24 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) expansion at its Corpus Christi, Texas facility. The Stage 4 expansion would add four new processing trains and bring the site's total capacity to 49 mtpa, pending federal approval expected by May next year. This move intensifies competition with Venture Global to become the first U.S. exporter to reach 100 mtpa capacity.

• The expansion would require 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day and add four LNG processing trains of 6 mtpa each to the existing Corpus Christi facility
• Cheniere currently has 52 mtpa of capacity with 8 mtpa under construction, while competitor Venture Global has 40 mtpa capacity with 28 mtpa under construction
• The U.S. exported 111 million metric tonnes of LNG in 2025 and has another 100 mtpa under construction for 2027-2030, raising concerns about potential oversupply by 2030

Rio Tinto has ended merger discussions with Glencore, walking away from a deal that would have created the world's largest mining company. Rio cited an inability to reach an agreement that would deliver value to its shareholders. This marks the second failed attempt between the companies, following a rejected 2014 merger approach.

• The collapsed talks mirror other failed mining mega-deals, including BHP's $49 billion approach for Anglo American that fell apart over structural concerns
• Rio Tinto previously rejected a merger approach from Glencore in 2014, saying it was not in shareholders' best interests
• The mining sector continues to pursue consolidation amid rising demand for metals, despite repeated deal failures

Spotify announced a partnership with Bookshop.org to sell physical books through its streaming platform, expanding beyond its audiobook business that has grown to 500,000 titles across 22 markets. The feature will launch in the U.S. and UK this spring, with Bookshop.org handling fulfillment. This move comes as physical book sales decline industry-wide due to increasing digital consumption.

• Spotify's audiobook service has seen 36% growth in new listeners and 37% increase in listening hours since launching two years ago
• The company will introduce 'Page Match' technology allowing users to scan printed or e-book pages to sync with corresponding audiobook positions, rolling out fully by February 23
• The expansion comes amid broader industry struggles, with News Corp reporting slowing book orders and distributor Baker & Taylor shutting down in January

Bitcoin briefly fell below $70,000 on Thursday morning for the first time since November 2024, part of a broader sell-off in risk assets. The cryptocurrency is now trading approximately 40% below its all-time high of over $126,000 reached in October, with analysts warning that breaking the $70,000 level could trigger further declines.

• Over $2 billion in long and short cryptocurrency positions have been liquidated this week as of Thursday, contributing to downward price pressure
• Institutional demand has reversed materially, with U.S. bitcoin ETFs now net sellers in 2026 after purchasing 46,000 bitcoin at this time last year
• Bitcoin broke below its 365-day moving average for the first time since March 2022, declining 23% in the 83 days since the breakdown, with analysts suggesting potential downside toward the $70,000-$60,000 range

Air India is investigating whether its crew followed proper compliance procedures after a Boeing 787 took off from London with a reported fuel-switch defect and was later grounded in India. Britain's aviation authority has given Air India a one-week deadline to provide details of all maintenance actions before takeoff or face regulatory action against the airline and its fleet of 33 Boeing 787s.

• Pilots in London observed the fuel control switch did not stay latched in the 'run' position on two attempts but was stable on a third; they flew to India where a 'glitch' was reported on landing
• Air India's investigation will question why the crew did not report the incident to British authorities in London before departure, yet reported it after landing in India
• Britain's watchdog has requested a 'comprehensive root-cause analysis' and 'preventive action plan' to prevent recurrence across Air India's entire Boeing 787 fleet

Chinese EV maker Nio expects to achieve its first-ever adjusted operating profit in Q4 2025, projecting 700 million to 1.2 billion yuan ($100.84-$172.88 million) compared to a 5.54 billion yuan loss in the prior year. The milestone reflects improved vehicle sales and cost management, with annual deliveries rising 47% to 326,028 vehicles.

• Nio delivered 326,028 vehicles in 2025, a 47% year-over-year increase, driven by premium EVs and the mid-year launch of its lower-cost Firefly subcompact model
• Q4 2025 adjusted operating profit is projected at 700 million to 1.2 billion yuan, marking a turnaround from a 5.54 billion yuan adjusted operating loss in Q4 2024
• The profitability milestone stems from higher vehicle sales volume and improved cost controls across operations