On the local time of January 16th, the three major US stock indices closed collectively lower, with the Nasdaq down 0.06%, the Dow Jones down 0.17%, and the S&P 500 down 0.06%.

Chip stocks generally rose, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gaining 1.15%. Micron Technology surged over 7%, while Broadcom, Applied Materials, and ASML all rose more than 2%.

Micron Technology projected second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue to be between $18.3 billion and $19.1 billion, surpassing market expectations. The company also raised its capital expenditure forecast for fiscal 2026 from $18 billion to $20 billion.

Some institutional analysis suggests that driven by the wave of AI infrastructure and a surge in memory demand, memory chip prices could experience "runaway increases" in 2026, potentially extending the memory industry's "super cycle" into 2027.

Analysts at Citigroup believe that the proliferation of AI agents and a sharp rise in memory demand for AI CPUs will drive memory chip prices to surge uncontrollably in 2026. The analysts significantly raised their 2026 average selling price (ASP) growth forecast for DRAM from 53% to 88%, and for NAND from 44% to 74%.

Tesla and Nvidia experienced a pattern of rising initially before falling back.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index dropping 1.15%. Alibaba fell over 3%, while Bilibili, JD.com, Li Auto, and XPeng each dropped more than 1%. For the week, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index accumulated a gain of 0.32%.

The FTSE China A50 Index Futures night session closed down 0.24% at 15,197 points.

International crude oil prices rose on the 16th. At the close, the February delivery light sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased by 25 cents to settle at $59.44 per barrel, a gain of 0.42%. The March delivery Brent crude futures on the London ICE Futures Europe exchange rose 37 cents to settle at $64.13 per barrel, up 0.58%.

Spot silver prices plunged nearly 6% at one point.

Reports indicate that on January 16th, the Director of the White House National Economic Council downplayed the federal criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, stating he expected "no significant issues." During an interview, he characterized the Fed investigation as a simple information request, suggesting the relevant information would be provided promptly, after which the investigation would proceed. He also expressed a desire for greater transparency regarding cost overruns on the Fed headquarters renovation, another focus of the Justice Department investigation.

He emphasized that the Fed's independence is crucial for economic stability. He also commented that Warsh and Rieder would make excellent Fed Chairs, adding that if he were elected Fed Chairman, he would commit to preserving the Fed's independence.

On January 16th, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision suggested that a fragile job market could deteriorate rapidly, implying the Fed should be prepared to cut interest rates again if necessary.

Entering 2026, Fed policymakers generally anticipate that inflationary pressures will ease, the job market will stabilize, economic growth will remain healthy, and the uncertainty stemming from unpredictable US economic policies will gradually diminish.

In late 2025, the Fed lowered the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to a range of 3.50%-3.75%. This move aimed to support a weak job market by reducing short-term borrowing costs, while still maintaining some degree of tightness to curb persistently elevated inflationary pressures.

At the December 9-10 policy meeting, Fed officials projected an additional 25 basis point rate cut for 2026. Public comments early in the year showed officials were not expressing an urgent need to act, preferring instead to wait for further signs of easing inflation.