New York, January 19, 2026, 12:26 EST — The market has closed.
Shares of Nvidia and Microsoft listed in Europe slid 2.2% on Monday, while Alphabet took a 2.4% hit in Frankfurt. The drop followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of fresh tariffs linked to Greenland. Nasdaq 100 futures, which track the tech-heavy index ahead of the cash open, were down 1.25%. 1
This is important for AI stocks since a handful of megacap names still carry most of the weight on sentiment, reacting sharply whenever political shifts shake risk appetite. With U.S. stock and bond markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the initial signals are coming from futures and overseas trading ahead of Tuesday’s reopening. 2
On Saturday, Trump promised to impose a series of escalating tariffs starting Feb. 1 on Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Britain, and Norway—until the US gets the green light to buy Greenland, Reuters reported. EU diplomats have flagged preparations for retaliatory steps, including a dormant 93-billion-euro tariff package that could automatically activate on Feb. 6. Emergency talks are set for Brussels on Thursday to address the fallout. 3
Before the holiday break in U.S. trading, Nvidia last traded at $186.23, slipping 0.5% from its previous close. Microsoft edged up 0.7% to $459.86. AMD gained 1.7%, hitting $231.83, and Broadcom jumped 2.6% to $351.71.
Analyst chatter is trying to stabilize the AI sector. Wolfe Research’s Chris Caso bumped Nvidia onto the firm’s “Alpha List” of top stock picks. He pointed out that Blackwell is “ramping fully,” while Rubin is set for a second-half 2026 launch, promising a “5x inference improvement” — essentially faster AI model processing — compared to Blackwell. Over at Morgan Stanley, Keith Weiss said Microsoft “remains in pole position” to capture more IT wallet share as generative AI—software that creates text, images, or code—expands its reach. 4
Microsoft faces a new legal challenge. Court documents reveal Elon Musk is pursuing up to $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging they profited unfairly from his initial support of OpenAI. OpenAI has rejected the accusation. 5
Deal chatter is heating up. Sequoia is poised to join GIC and Coatue in a fresh funding round for Anthropic, targeting $25 billion at a $350 billion valuation, according to the Financial Times. Reuters added that Microsoft and Nvidia have already pledged up to $15 billion in earlier rounds. 6
The key risk this week is clear: if tariff threats escalate into a full-blown trade war, the “AI trade” could reverse sharply—especially among stocks priced for ongoing earnings upgrades. Signs during earnings calls that cloud demand or data-center expansions are slowing would only deepen the sell-off.
Investors will be closely watching how megacap AI stocks start off when Wall Street reopens Tuesday. Attention will then pivot rapidly to the upcoming catalysts: Microsoft’s quarterly earnings report after the close on Jan. 28, the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Jan. 27-28, and Nvidia’s earnings coming Feb. 25.
