Increases in Europe; The Tokyo and South Korean stock markets broke new records

12:45

Trading in Europe moved to price increases. The DAX index rises by about 0.3%, the FTSE advances by about 0.2% and the KAK rises by about 0.7%.

The futures on Wall Street, which in the morning traded in slight increases of up to 0.3%, erased the gains and are now trading around the base level.

The software company Salesforce is down about 3% in early trading, after last night it published its financial results for 2025. The company beat analysts’ forecasts on the top and bottom lines: in the fourth quarter, it reported revenues of $11.2 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $3.81, against expectations for revenues of $11.18 billion and earnings per share of $3.04. In addition, the company announced a plan to buy back shares amounting to 50 billion dollars – more than a quarter of the company’s market value, which is about 180 billion dollars.

11:30

Trade in Europe continues to be conducted in a mixed trend. The Dax index falls by about 0.2%, the Potsi rises by about 0.1% and the KAC adds to its value by about 0.5%.

A stock of the sportswear giant puma Jumping over 6%, after the company published its financial results for 2025. According to CNBC, the company reported a 13.1% decrease in its profits, which it attributed to the strategic “reset” completed last year. The stock recently traded up 8.2%. The company reported an operating loss of 357.2 million euros ($421.8 million), compared to an operating profit of 548.7 million euros the previous year. The loss was more limited than a loss of 374.3 million euros predicted by analysts in the consensus provided by Puma.

10:30

European stock markets opened the day with a mixed trend. The Dax index is down by about 0.1%, the FTSE trades stably and the KAC adds about 0.3% to its value.

9:45

Asia

In Asia, trading was mixed this morning, although the stock exchanges in Tokyo and South Korea once again broke new records. The Nikkei crossed the 59,000 points mark for the first time, although later it retreated a little and ended the day with an increase of about 0.1%. The Hang Seng falls by about 1.1%, the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed unchanged and the South Korean Kospi index continued its positive momentum from yesterday and jumped by about 3.7%.

Just yesterday, the stock market in South Korea reached a significant milestone yesterday, when it crossed the 6,000 point mark for the first time. By the way, it became the ninth largest stock exchange in the world: its total market value rose to 3.76 trillion dollars and overtook the value of the stock exchange in Paris, which stands at 3.69 trillion dollars – according to Bloomberg data.

Since the start of the year, the Kospi index has surged over 40%, placing the Seoul stock exchange as one of the world’s strongest performing markets in 2026 so far. The jump comes, among other things, against the background of the boom in artificial intelligence: two major players in the fields of chips and memory, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose shares have risen since the beginning of the year by about 70% and about 60%, respectively, are traded on the South Korean stock exchange.

The Wall Street Journal noted that the increases are also attributed to the reforms carried out by President Lee Jae-myung since he took office in June 2025, which aim to “increase shareholder returns, tighten corporate governance and strengthen fiduciary duties to improve the accountability of boards of directors.”

Several large investment banks estimate that the rally will continue. BJ. times. At the beginning of the month, Morgan raised their target price for Kospi and predicted that in a bullish scenario, it may reach 7,500 points by the end of this year – that is, an upside of about 25%. Earlier this month, Citigroup raised the target price of the Kospi for 2026 from 5,500 to 7,000 points.

Analysts from Citigroup, led by Peter Lee, wrote in a note to investors that “We believe that Korean memory chips will play a vital role in driving the fundamental growth in earnings of the Korean stock market. According to a Bloomberg report, they added that Samsung’s operating profit may expand by more than 300% on an annualized basis in 2026, and that of SK Hynix by 73%.

Wall Street

On Wall Street, the leading indexes posted gains yesterday. The Nasdaq rose 1.3% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%, as investors look for confirmation that the AI ​​craze is not a bubble about to burst but a sustainable engine of growth. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones advanced about 0.6%.

All eyes were on Nvidia’s financial reports for 2025 yesterday, which once again shattered analysts’ forecasts.

Nvidia concluded the report season of the technology giants with a report of revenues of 68.1 billion dollars, compared to the market expectations which stood at 66.1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter, and to the forecasts that Nvidia itself published in the previous quarter – 65 billion dollars.

Revenues from the data center: $62.3 billion (75% growth compared to last year) – this is the main engine fueled by demand for the Blackwell chips. Gross profit: 75% (GAAP), meeting exactly the high profitability target set by the company. The company has provided a very strong forecast for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, which allays fears of an “AI bubble” and indicates that demand is only increasing: Q1 revenue forecast: approximately $78 billion. Expected gross profit: around 75%, as part of the operational estimates for the coming year.

Following the reports, the stock first rose in late trading at a rate of about 4%, but later all the gains were erased.

After the chip giant’s financial results, in an interview with CNBC CEO Jensen Huang referred to the AI ​​shake-up in the markets and tried to calm investors’ fears. Huang said that he “thinks the markets were wrong” and that he sees AI as a growth engine and not as a tool that will “cannibalize” the software sector.

The Israeli stock Auditi Tech (Il McKayage) The Israeli stock fell by about 50% to an all-time low. This is after the technology company for the world of beauty published good reports for the fourth quarter of 2025 and for the entire year, but provided a low forecast for the first quarter – against the background of a challenge it is encountering with its advertising partner, which led to an increase in customer acquisition costs.

Auditi Tech was first issued on Nasdaq in the summer of 2023 at a value of approximately $2 billion, and at its peak in June 2025 it was traded at a value of over $4.3 billion. The stock traded in a negative trend even before the reports were published and the company’s value before the daily drop was approximately $1.67 billion. With the opening of trading, the stock falls to a price that reflects its value of under a billion dollars – almost 80% below last year’s record.

US debt market

In the American debt market, the rally (rising prices and falling yields) that we have seen in recent weeks has hit a roadblock. The yield on the 10-year bond settled around 4.14%, after employment and retail sales data presented a mixed picture of the strength of the US economy. Investors fear that inflation could remain “sticky,” preventing the Federal Reserve from making the three rate cuts that some of the market is pricing in for 2026.

The economists of the investment giant BlackRock are neutral regarding short-term US government bonds, and negative on long-term bonds. According to them, in the short-term bonds “we are neutral. We see other assets that offer more convincing returns”, after the short-term bond yields fell against the backdrop of the Fed’s interest rate policy. They recommend underweight the longer-term ones and explain this, among other things, by high debt service costs.

However, they note that lower inflation and improved tax revenues could push yields down in the near term. The 10-year US government bonds are trading at a yield of 4.05% and the 5-year bonds at a yield of 3.62%.

The commodity and currency markets

The shekel continues to strengthen against the dollar, against the background of the recovery recorded in recent days on Wall Street, and this morning the dollar-shekel exchange rate stands at NIS 3.08. Let’s recall that earlier this month, the dollar-shekel fell below the NIS 3.07 mark, and thus the shekel reached its strongest level against the American currency in about 30 years.

The price of gold is again on the rise due to the tensions between the US and Iran and the uncertainty surrounding the issue of US tariffs, when as of this morning, its price is hovering around $5,200 per ounce. David Wilson, Director of Commodity Strategy at BNP Paribas, mentioned in Bloomberg the sharp increase in the price of gold during 2025, against the background of debasement trade – the fear of the decline of the dollar, and hedging with gold.

In his estimation, if the American government has to give refunds to importers for tariffs paid due to the cancellation, “this will have dramatic consequences for the budget deficit, the dollar and government bonds.” In other words, there may be another run towards gold.

The crypto market also recorded an impressive jump yesterday. Bitcoin broke the recent losing streak and climbed above the psychological level of $69,000, enjoying a general positive “Risk-on” sentiment in the markets. Many traders see bitcoin as an asset directly affected by the technology boom, and its recovery today was seen as a sign of confidence in the continuation of the tech rally. This morning, the price of Bitcoin hovered around $68,000.

The intraday increase of about 7%, the largest since mid-February, coincided with an even more impressive surge of Ethereum (ETH) by about 12% to a level of about $2,060. The analysts attribute the move to a wave of “dip-buying” after the last correction, but emphasize that the real test will be a breakout of the $70,000 level, which may change the narrative in the crypto market from a technical correction to a return to a long-term uptrend.

The tailwind for the crypto market and risk assets in general came from the White House, after President Trump’s “State of the Union” speech last night. The speech, perceived as mild and reassuring (“Benign”) for investors, focused on promises to lower prices and economic growth without introducing new taxation or regulatory initiatives that could cloud the market.