MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: Stocks fell amid fears that a new legal-analysis tool from artificial-intelligence firm Anthropic could threaten data and publishing firms' businesses.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields were little changed as U.S. lawmakers approved funding legislation to end a partial government shutdown.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar gave back some of the gains registered after Kevin Warsh's selection as a likely nominee for Federal Reserve chair.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose on a trade deal between the U.S. and India, and news that the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone in the Persian Gulf. Gold and silver futures surged, recouping some of their recent losses.

HEADLINES

Disney Names Parks Chief D'Amaro as New CEO, Succeeding Iger

Disney has named Josh D'Amaro as its new chief executive officer, putting the man in charge of the theme parks and cruise ships, which have become its biggest source of profits, atop America's best-known entertainment brand.

D'Amaro will succeed Bob Iger to become the ninth leader of Disney in its 102-year history. The CEO job requires not only running a sprawling empire but also serving as its high-profile, and highly scrutinized, public ambassador.

D'Amaro won a challenging bake-off for the job against Disney's entertainment co-Chairman Dana Walden that has been the talk of Hollywood for more than a year. Walden was named to the newly created position of president and chief creative officer.

Banco Santander to Buy Webster Financial in $12.3 Billion Deal

Banco Santander is buying Webster Financial, the holding company for Webster Bank, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $12.3 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, Webster stockholders would receive $48.75 in cash and 2.0548 Santander American depositary shares for each Webster common share.

The per-share consideration of $75.59 is based on closing prices as of Monday, and represents a 16% premium to the Stamford, Conn., company's 10-day volume-weighted average stock price.

House Approves Measure to End Partial Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON-The Republican-led House passed funding legislation to end a partial government shutdown and kick off 10 days of negotiations over immigration enforcement, after President Trump helped stamp out an intraparty rebellion.

The House voted 217 to 214 to fund a large portion of the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The Senate cleared the package last week. Trump, who repeatedly urged lawmakers to back the deal, is expected to sign it into law.

The legislation provides $1.2 trillion spread across five spending bills, including the Pentagon and the Health and Human Services Department. It splits off a sixth measure for the Department of Homeland Security, instead funding it through Feb. 13 at current levels. DHS was separated to allow lawmakers more time to negotiate over possible new restrictions on immigration agents demanded by Democrats.

Walmart Reaches $1 Trillion Market Cap as Its E-Commerce Booms

Retail behemoth Walmart has hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion, becoming the first traditional retailer to reach the milestone.

The achievment places Walmart among a small but growing club of companies that have a 13-figure valuation, including Amazon.com, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.

In trading on Tuesday morning, Walmart stock surpassed $126 a share, above the $125.47 needed to reach a trillion-dollar valuation. The company's current market cap is about $1.005 trillion.

PepsiCo to Slash Prices Up to 15% on Doritos, Cheetos and Other Snacks

PepsiCo is looking to cut prices by as much as 15% on products including Lay's potato chips and Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

The beverage-and-snack company is making the cuts after receiving a flood of emails and voicemail messages from shoppers complaining that high prices were making it hard to buy the company's snacks.

"Consumers told us they need more value," said Rachel Ferdinando, chief executive of PepsiCo's U.S. food business.

Fed's Barkin Says We Have Been Bringing Rates Back Down Toward Neutral Levels

Thomas Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said that as the inflation rate has fallen, the Fed has been bringing interest rates back down toward neutral levels.

Speaking in South Carolina Tuesday, Barkin said reducing the fed-funds rate by 175 basis points over the last year and a half is supporting the labor market.

"I think of these cuts as having taken out some insurance to support the labor market as we work to complete the last mile to bring inflation back to target," he said.

Pfizer Sales Fall on Continued Lower Covid-19 Drug Demand

Pfizer reported lower fourth-quarter sales as demand for its Covid-19 vaccine and antiviral drug continued to decline.

The drugmaker reported a loss of $1.65 billion, or 29 cents a share, compared with a profit of $410 million, or 7 cents a share, the year prior.

Adjusted earnings were 66 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 57 cents a share.

Ivanhoe Mines Shares Rise With Talks to Supply U.S. 'Project Vault' With Critical Minerals

Ivanhoe Mines shares jumped after the company said it was in talks to supply critical minerals from its mine in Congo to the Trump administration's proposed $12 billion stockpile.

The Canadian mining company said it is in advanced discussions with Congo's state-owned miner, Gecamines, as well as Swiss metals and energy trading firm Mercuria to supply production from the Kipushi mine to the U.S.

Ivanhoe's shares climbed 7.4% to C$18.41, widening the advance over the last year to 18%.

Merck Expects Slower Earnings Growth As It Spends on Acquisitions

Merck recorded higher revenue in its fourth quarter, but expects earnings growth to slow as it ramps up acquisitions.

The healthcare company on Tuesday posted a profit of $2.96 billion, or $1.19 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $3.74 billion, or $1.48 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $2.04, ahead of the $2.01 anticipated by analysts, according to FactSet.

Siemens Energy to Spend $1 Billion to Boost Manufacturing of Electrical-Grid Equipment

Siemens Energy plans to spend $1 billion to boost its manufacturing of grid and power-generation equipment in the U.S. as demand for electricity soars.

The investments include restarting gas-turbine manufacturing, the key to turning natural gas into electricity, at an existing factory in North Carolina. The turbines are needed to supply reliable power for AI data centers but are in short supply because of the stunning and rapid upswing in power demand.

Siemens Energy, along with GE Vernova and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is among the big gas-turbine makers that are riding the boom to power artificial intelligence. Orders and prices for the monster machines have soared, but executives in the highly cyclical business have expressed some uncertainty over how long the party will last.

TALKING POINT Wall Street Laments Departure of the 'High Priest' of the S&P 500

The high priest of the S&P 500 index. The dean of data. The earnings pope.

Those are all monikers bestowed upon Howard Silverblatt, longtime senior index analyst at S&P Global. Famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of the benchmark stock index and his fast-paced Brooklyn burr, he has been a markets data maven for everyone from Wall Street analysts to financial journalists.

But after nearly 49 years, Silverblatt has taken on a new title: Florida retiree.

Silverblatt spent his entire career at S&P, a rarity among restless Wall Street hustlers who often flit between companies to climb the corporate ladder. His monthly email blasts, chock-full of data on earnings, stock buybacks and returns tied to the S&P 500, have long been considered essential reading for market watchers. Now many are wondering what they will do without him.

"That 60-hour workweek was not as much fun as it used to be," Silverblatt, 71 years old, said in an interview. "We are entering a new stage, and you do need people coming up to fill that."

Today's financial markets are a far cry from what they were decades ago. The S&P 500 returned around 12% on an annualized basis during Silverblatt's nearly half-century-long run, counting price changes and dividend payments. The adoption of electronic systems has made trading faster and more plentiful than ever before. Individual investors have flooded into markets, while nontraditional assets from cryptocurrencies to prediction markets have exploded in popularity.

In contrast, Silverblatt has remained anchored in the past. He prefers reading newspapers over screens, still creasing the pages into a subway fold like he was taught as a child. He crunched numbers using an old DOS-based database manager, printing out hard copies full of data and checking the figures by pen. He kept a pager clipped to his belt.

--Krystal Hur

Expected Major Events for Wednesday

00:30/JPN: Jan Japan Services PMI

06:00/RUS: Jan Russian Services PMI

08:45/ITA: Jan Italy Services PMI

08:50/FRA: Jan France Services PMI

08:55/GER: Jan Germany Services PMI

09:30/UK: Jan S&P Global UK Services PMI

09:30/UK: Jan UK Official Reserves

09:30/UK: Jan Narrow money (Notes & Coin) and reserve balances

10:00/ITA: Jan Cities CPI

10:00/ITA: Jan Provisional CPI

12:00/US: 01/30 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey

13:15/US: Jan ADP National Employment Report

13:15/CAN: Jan Official International Reserves

14:30/CAN: Jan Canada Services PMI

14:45/US: Jan US Services PMI

15:00/US: Jan ISM Report On Business Services PMI

15:00/US: Dec Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment

15:30/US: 01/30 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report

16:00/US: Jan Global Services PMI

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Wednesday

ATS Corp (ATS.T) is expected to report $0.18 for 3Q.

AbbVie Inc $(ABBV)$ is expected to report $2.03 for 4Q.

Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB,ACB.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Avery Dennison Corp $(AVY)$ is expected to report $2.35 for 4Q.

Azenta Inc (AZTA) is expected to report $-0.04 for 1Q.

Bio-Techne Corp $(TECH)$ is expected to report $0.31 for 2Q.

Blue Foundry Bancorp (BLFY) is expected to report $-0.10 for 4Q.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd (BAM.T) is expected to report $0.48 for 4Q.

Bunge Global SA $(BG)$ is expected to report $1.78 for 4Q.

CDW Corp $(CDW)$ is expected to report $2.04 for 4Q.

Cencora Inc $(COR)$ is expected to report $3.48 for 1Q.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp $(CTSH)$ is expected to report $1.32 for 4Q.

Dayforce Inc (DAY,DAY.T) is expected to report $0.37 for 4Q.

Eli Lilly & Co $(LLY)$ is expected to report $6.74 for 4Q.

Equifax Inc $(EFX)$ is expected to report $1.67 for 4Q.

Evercore Inc - Class A (EVR) is expected to report $4.06 for 4Q.

FirstService Corp (FSV,FSV.T) is expected to report $0.81 for 4Q.

Fortive Corp $(FTV)$ is expected to report $0.58 for 4Q.

Fox Corp - Class A (FOX,FOXA) is expected to report $0.47 for 2Q.

Kennametal Inc (KMT) is expected to report $0.38 for 2Q.

Lear Corp $(LEA)$ is expected to report $1.72 for 4Q.

Natural Health Trends Corp (NHTC) is expected to report for 4Q.

New York Times Co - A Share $(NYT)$ is expected to report $0.82 for 4Q.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp (OCSL) is expected to report $0.37 for 1Q.

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc (ODFL) is expected to report $1.06 for 4Q.

Performance Food Group Co (PFGC) is expected to report $0.86 for 2Q.

Phillips 66 (PSX) is expected to report $2.10 for 4Q.

Reservoir Media Inc $(RSVR)$ is expected to report $0.02 for 3Q.

Reynolds Consumer Products Inc (REYN) is expected to report $0.58 for 4Q.

Silgan Holdings Inc $(SLGN)$ is expected to report $0.54 for 4Q.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc $(SWK)$ is expected to report $1.13 for 4Q.

T Rowe Price Group Inc $(TROW)$ is expected to report $2.44 for 4Q.

Timken Co $(TKR)$ is expected to report $0.89 for 4Q.

Twin Disc Inc $(TWIN)$ is expected to report $0.10 for 2Q.

Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) is expected to report $0.78 for 4Q.

Valvoline Inc $(VVV)$ is expected to report $0.32 for 1Q.

Vishay Intertechnology Inc $(VSH)$ is expected to report $0.02 for 4Q.

Wabash National Corp (WNC) is expected to report $-0.77 for 4Q.

Yum China Holdings Inc (YUMC) is expected to report $0.58 for 4Q.

Yum! Brands Inc $(YUM)$ is expected to report $1.74 for 4Q.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2026 16:54 ET (21:54 GMT)

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