New York, Jan 19, 2026, 09:33 EST — Market closed
- Microsoft dropped 2.2% in European trading after major U.S. tech stocks tumbled on new tariff concerns
- Microsoft, listed in the U.S., closed last Friday up 0.7% at $459.86; Wall Street will reopen on Tuesday
- Investors face two immediate concerns: Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit claims and Microsoft’s urgent Windows patch
Microsoft shares slipped 2.2% in European trading Monday amid a wider selloff in U.S. tech proxies following President Donald Trump’s threat of fresh tariffs on European countries. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.25% as U.S. cash markets remained closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Microsoft (MSFT.O) faces pressure as trading picks up Tuesday, kicking off a week packed with headlines. Investors have been quick to trim risk in mega-cap tech names. “There is obviously a response (in financial markets) to the new tariff threats,” said George Lagarias, chief economist at Forvis Mazars. Reuters
Microsoft shares closed Friday up 0.7%, finishing at $459.86. U.S. markets will be closed Monday and resume trading on Tuesday.
Adding to the macro noise, Microsoft finds itself back in the legal crosshairs over its connection to OpenAI. Elon Musk has filed in federal court seeking up to $134 billion from both OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming he’s owed “wrongful gains” stemming from his early backing of the startup. Musk’s lead trial lawyer, Steven Molo, insisted, “Without Elon Musk, there’d be no OpenAI.” OpenAI dismissed the claim as an “unserious demand,” while Microsoft didn’t respond to requests for comment outside business hours, Reuters reported. Reuters
Microsoft rolled out an out-of-band Windows fix on Jan. 17, responding to issues caused by the Jan. 13 security update. The emergency patch, KB5077797, targets Remote Desktop sign-in failures and corrects problems on some devices with Secure Launch enabled that unexpectedly restarted instead of shutting down or entering hibernation.
Microsoft reported on its Windows release health dashboard that a shutdown and hibernation issue affected certain Windows 11 version 23H2 PCs equipped with Secure Launch, a security feature leveraging virtualization-based protection at startup. The problem emerged after the Jan. 13 security update, which targets Enterprise and IoT editions. The company also highlighted credential prompt failures impacting some remote connection apps, such as Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. Users are directed to an out-of-band update available through the Microsoft Update Catalog and interim workarounds using alternative remote access methods.
For investors, the Windows patch cycle goes beyond a simple help-desk concern. It arrives in a quarter where Microsoft must justify its substantial AI and cloud investments, all while maintaining steady demand for Windows, Microsoft 365, and Azure-related services among enterprise clients.
Still, the route from headlines to earnings rarely runs straight. Trade tensions might ease fast or spiral into a broader growth concern. The OpenAI dispute, meanwhile, is tied up in legal wrangling—making its timing and financial fallout difficult to gauge from initial filings.
Microsoft’s next major event is set for Wednesday, Jan. 28, when it unveils its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the market closes. The company will hold its earnings call at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time.
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