Editor’s Note
Today’s markets reflect a tug-of-war between economic concerns and corporate resilience. While weak consumer data weighs on sentiment and most asset classes, individual company strength—as seen with Datadog—can still shine through.
Weak U.S. consumer data has reignited growth fears and pressured global markets, while precious metals, cryptocurrencies, and commodities are falling again. In contrast, Datadog stands out for the strength of its results and forecasts, compared to a cooler market reaction to Coca-Cola’s numbers.
The session on Wall Street is proceeding with mixed sentiment. At the time of writing this summary, only the Dow Jones is recording a marginal advance, with a gain close to 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is retreating around 0.1% and the Nasdaq 100 is falling nearly 0.3%.
In Europe, the tone was clearly negative, with most indices closing in negative territory. The German DAX fell more than 0.1%, the British FTSE 100 retreated more than 0.3%, and the Spanish IBEX 35 dropped 0.4%. The French CAC 40 was the best-performing index, recording only a symbolic gain.
U.S. retail sales for December proved especially weak, coming in at 0.0% monthly, both in the headline figure and in the indicator excluding automobiles (the market expected +0.4%). These figures fell well below expectations, clearly disappointing investors and rekindling doubts about the strength of the U.S. consumer. Such weak data point to a slowdown in consumption, which could negatively affect economic growth prospects in the coming months.
In the currency market, the most notable movements are seen in the USD/JPY pair, where the yen is strengthening against the dollar following the victory of Prime Minister Takaichi’s political bloc.
Negative sentiment dominates the precious metals market. Gold is falling nearly 1% and remains around USD 5,000 per ounce, while silver is retreating more than 3%, testing the USD 80 per ounce level. Palladium and platinum show similar behavior, with losses close to 1.6%.
A clear liquidation is also observed in the cryptocurrency market, where major assets continue under heavy pressure. Bitcoin is falling around 2%, breaching the USD 69,000 level, while Ethereum records an even sharper drop, close to 5%, down to the USD 2,000 zone.
The commodities market is also operating under pressure. Brent crude oil contracts are retreating nearly 0.4%, while WTI is falling approximately 0.6%. Natural gas (NATGAS) contracts also continue to weaken, with a drop close to 0.2%.
On the corporate front, Coca-Cola presented its fourth quarter 2025 results, which, while showing earnings per share above expectations and growth in sales volumes, disappointed on revenue, which came in below market forecasts. Furthermore, the company announced moderate sales growth for 2026 and a change in the CEO position.
