New York, February 7, 2026, 15:15 EST — Market is done for the day.
- Morgan Stanley shares finished up on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak.
- The Dow jumped past 50,000, hitting a new milestone as Wall Street bounced back.
- This week, traders are watching chatter around rate cuts and a rejigged U.S. data calendar.
Morgan Stanley (MS) finished Friday up 2.34%, settling at $179.96. Shares moved in a range from $175.52 to $181.17. Volume hit roughly 9.1 million shares on the day.
The rebound landed after a shaky stretch for U.S. stocks—a week marked by traders wavering between chasing AI-fueled spending and fretting over its impact on profits and interest rates.
Morgan Stanley is watching to see if risk appetite survives into Monday’s open, as investors wrestle with the pace — and the possible limits — of Federal Reserve easing before inflation sparks again.
Friday saw the broader market carrying most of the gains. The Dow closed past 50,000 for the first time, lifted by a rally in chip stocks as investors interpreted growing AI infrastructure budgets as a sign of continued momentum, not a red flag. “I think there’s enough evidence that there’s real demand for AI products,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. 1
Morgan Stanley broke a three-day slide with a gain, but still couldn’t keep up with major banking rivals. JPMorgan finished up 3.95%, Wells Fargo advanced 2.63%, and Charles Schwab tacked on 3.02%. Morgan Stanley remains 6.60% off its 52-week peak of $192.68 from January 16, according to MarketWatch. 2
After a slide on Thursday, Morgan Stanley shed 2.35% to close at $175.84, logging a third consecutive daily loss as the wider market slipped. 3
Analysts were sounding less upbeat, with Evercore ISI cutting Morgan Stanley down to a “hold” from “strong-buy” in a Thursday note, MarketBeat reported. 4
Rates are still in the spotlight. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly described the labor market as “precarious” in comments to Reuters, adding she’s leaning in favor of more rate cuts following the Fed’s decision to keep its benchmark rate steady between 3.50% and 3.75% last week. Capital Economics analyst Thomas Ryan, though, cautioned, “I would not jump to the conclusion that the jobs market took another leg lower.” 5
Another piece came from economic sentiment. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index climbed to 57.3 in early February, hitting a six-month peak—even as worries about jobs and living costs lingered, Reuters said. “We may have seen the trough in consumer sentiment,” Nationwide financial markets economist Oren Klachkin noted. 6
Still, the risks haven’t gone anywhere. This year, major U.S. tech names are on track to spend over $630 billion on AI. Morgan Stanley analysts flagged a shift: investors seem increasingly impatient with heavy spending that doesn’t show obvious payoffs—pressure that can quickly ripple through banks’ trading desks and deal pipelines if volatility jumps. 7
Plenty lands on the calendar next week. The Labor Department drops its January jobs report on February 11, while inflation watchers will be looking at January’s Consumer Price Index coming out February 13, both per the BLS schedule. Morgan Stanley, for its part, will pay out a $1.00 quarterly dividend that same day. 8
