Both the S&P index only NASDAQ index closed lower for the month. The S&P fell -0.87% after a gain of 1.37% in the month of January. The NASDAQ index-3.38%. That was its worst month since March 2025. The Dow industrial average rose by a modest 0.17%.
For the trading day, the major indices are all closing lower:
- Dow industrial average -1.05%
- S&P index -0.43%
- NASDAQ index -0.92%.
For the trading week:
- Dow industrial average -1.31%
- S&P index -0.44%
- NASDAQ index -0.95%
Some of the loser this week:
Consumer & Retail Weakness
Whirlpool: -19.00% — largest decline; cyclical consumer demand concerns and rate sensitivity weighing on appliances.
Macy’s Inc: -11.78% — continued pressure on discretionary retail spending outlook.
Dollar Tree: -5.98% — defensive retail also seeing margin and consumer-trend worries.
Best Buy: -3.92% — electronics demand uncertainty persists.
Nike: -4.91% — growth expectations moderating.
High-Beta Growth & Tech Selling
First Solar: -18.51% — clean energy names hit hard amid rate/yield volatility.
Zoom Video: -18.11% — growth multiple compression continues.
NVIDIA: -6.65% — profit-taking despite strong AI narrative.
Synopsys: -5.90%
Broadcom: -3.92%
Micron: -3.69%
➡️ Semis and AI leaders saw rotation and valuation pressure, not outright fundamental deterioration.
Financials Under Pressure
➡️ Lower yields and macro uncertainty weighed broadly on banks and credit-sensitive names.
Travel & Cyclicals Rolling Over
United Airlines Holdings: -5.95%
Southwest Airlines: -5.45%
Delta Air Lines: -5.37%
American Airlines: -3.83%
➡️ Cyclical reopening trades softened as growth expectations cooled.
Industrials / Defense
For the trading month, the biggest losers (selected highlights)
Crypto & Crypto-Linked Assets Hit Hard
BTCUSD: -26.48%
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC): -26.39%
Bitcoin Futures: -26.05%
Robinhood Markets: -26.64%
Strategy (MicroStrategy): -18.27%
➡️ A broad risk unwind in crypto spilled into crypto-levered equities and trading platforms as momentum reversed sharply.
High-Growth Tech & AI Names Repriced Lower
➡️ Investors rotated out of long-duration growth and AI leaders, reflecting valuation compression rather than a single catalyst.
Speculative / High-Beta Growth Under Pressure
➡️ Higher-beta retail favorites were among the hardest hit as risk appetite faded.
☀️ Cyclicals & Industrials Weakening
➡️ Cyclical and policy-sensitive sectors saw aggressive repositioning.
🏥 Defensive Growth Also Pulled Lower
➡️ Even higher-quality defensive growth names were not immune, signaling broad market de-risking.
Biggest winners this month (selected highlights)
🔌 AI Infrastructure & Connectivity Leaders
Corning: +44.24% — strongest performer; beneficiary of data-center and fiber demand tied to AI buildout.
Ciena Corp: +35.51% — networking infrastructure strength as bandwidth demand accelerates.
Dell Technologies: +26.11%
Arm Holdings: +15.91%
Taiwan Semiconductor: +9.46%
➡️ Capital spending tied to AI infrastructure and hardware buildout remained a dominant market theme.
Industrials, Transport & Cyclical Rebound
➡️ Investors rotated toward real-economy cyclicals, signaling confidence in economic resilience.
Energy Strength
➡️ Rising commodity expectations and steady cash-flow stories supported energy stocks.
Healthcare & Defensive Growth
Moderna: +18.26%
Merck & Co: +15.77%
Biogen: +9.70%
Stryker: +8.32%
➡️ Healthcare attracted flows as investors balanced growth exposure with defensive positioning.
Consumer & Media Winners
➡️ Select consumer and entertainment names benefited from improving sentiment and positioning shifts.
Overall Monthly Takeaway for the winners
The winners this month reveal a clear rotation beneath the market surface:
AI spending broadened beyond software into infrastructure and hardware.
Investors favored cash-flow-generating cyclicals and energy over speculative growth.
Healthcare and defensive growth attracted diversification flows.
The market rewarded tangible earnings visibility and real-economy exposure.
Overall Monthly Takeaway for the losers
This month’s losers point to a clear regime shift in market positioning:
Crypto weakness led the risk-off move, dragging related equities sharply lower.
AI and software leaders experienced valuation resets after extended upside runs.
Selling was systematic and cross-sector, not tied to one industry.
Markets rotated away from momentum, leverage, and long-duration growth assets.
