US earnings season picks up speed
US health insurers tumble
Gold, silver climb again
Dollar falls below 153 yen
(Updates to US market open)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose for a fifth straight session to an intraday record on Tuesday, as the pace of U.S. earnings season picked up steam, while President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats helped gold and silver continue their recent rally. On Wall Street, the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq were higher as investors digested a flurry of major earnings releases, including results from airplane maker Boeing (BA.N) and shipping company United Parcel Service (UPS.N) , which also said it would cut up to 30,000 jobs in operational roles this year. Along with a decline of about 2% in Boeing, the Dow Industrials were pulled lower by a drop of nearly 20% in UnitedHealth (UNH.N) , which said its 2026 revenue would shrink, while health insurers were lower overall in the wake of a lower-than-expected Medicare reimbursement proposal for 2027 from the government. Markets were also awaiting earnings this week from heavyweight names that are part of the so-called Magnificent Seven, such as Microsoft (MSFT.O) , Apple (AAPL.O) , Tesla (TSLA.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O) , while the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its policy statement on Wednesday.
“Our view this year is the impetus for markets to continue to rise is going to be an earnings story rather than a multiples story,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management in Minneapolis.
“There’s an expectation that those earnings will be fairly robust and you’re seeing that reflected in stocks moving higher.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 443.84 points, or 0.90%, to 48,968.36, the S&amp;P 500 (.SPX) rose 26.55 points, or 0.38%, to 6,976.78 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) rose 200.89 points, or 0.85%, to 23,801.43. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) rose 6.81 points, or 0.65%, to 1,050.98 and was on track for a fifth straight daily gain, its longest run of gains this year. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) index rose 0.58%, boosted by a 1.6% jump in bank (.SX7P) shares.
South Korea scrambled to assure the U.S. it remained committed to implementing a trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hike tariffs on autos and other imports from its ally, blaming a delay in enacting the pact agreed last year. It was the latest tariff threat from Trump after he announced plans to issue levies on several European countries over Greenland last week. The dollar index (=USD) , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.78% to 96.35, with the euro (EUR=) up 0.67% at $1.1958. The Korean won (KRW=) strengthened 0.57% against the greenback to 1,437.36 per dollar after falling as much as 0.63%.
Against the Japanese yen (JPY=) , the dollar weakened 0.73% to 153.02 after hitting 152.86, its lowest level since early November, while Sterling (GBP=) strengthened 0.75% to $1.378.
The yen had come under pressure since new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ascended to her position in October, in part due to worries over Japan’s government debt as Takaichi based her campaign for next month’s elections on expanded stimulus measures. But the Japanese currency strengthened sharply on Friday as chatter about rate checks by the New York Fed as well as the Bank of Japan fueled the risk of a joint U.S.-Japan intervention to halt the yen’s slide. Markets are also awaiting the latest policy statement from the Fed, although the central bank is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. However, the nomination of a potential replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell in May, the effort to fire Governor Lisa Cook, and a criminal investigation by the Trump administration into the central bank chief all loom over the meeting. As geopolitical tensions continue to percolate, they have buttressed precious metals such as gold. Spot gold (XAU=) was up 0.98% to $5,063.62 an ounce, just off the record $5,110.50 hit on Monday. Spot silver (XAG=) climbed 3.1% to $107.13 an ounce, after a record high of $117.69 on Monday. U.S. crude (CLc1) rose 1.2% to $61.36 a barrel and Brent (LCOc1) rose to $66.33 per barrel, up 1.13% on the day.
Currency moves against the US dollar
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Global stocks reached an intraday record as the U.S. earnings season gained momentum, with major companies like Boeing and UPS reporting results. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose, while the Dow fell due to declines in health insurers and Boeing. Gold and silver prices continued to rise amid tariff threats from President Trump. The dollar weakened against several currencies, and markets await further earnings reports and the Federal Reserve's policy statement. Precious metals benefitted from geopolitical tensions, with gold nearing record highs.

- Global stocks continued to rise for the fifth session, driven by the U.S. earnings season and President Trump's tariff threats affecting gold and silver prices.  
- The Dow fell by 0.90%, notably impacted by declines in Boeing and UnitedHealth, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw moderate gains amid strong expectations for upcoming earnings reports.  
- The dollar weakened against several currencies, falling below 153 yen, as markets anticipate the Federal Reserve's policy statement amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and fluctuations in precious metal prices.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks climb to record on earnings optimism, gold gains continue