iPhone drove Apple’s solid earnings, but investors weren’t too enthusiastic

One of the characteristics of apple’s iPhone 17 Pro has 8x zoom to help you focus on what’s important. For consumers, it’s a memorable moment. In Apple’s case, it’s the balance sheet.

On Thursday, the Cupertino-based company reported a 16% year-over-year increase in fiscal first-quarter sales, beating market expectations due to “tremendous” demand for iPhones. He also predicted that sales for the current quarter would exceed Wall Street expectations.

But investors’ reaction was lukewarm, with Apple shares up about 0.5% in after-hours trading. That may be because Apple is still behind the curve when it comes to artificial intelligence.

But investors drove meta platform Shares rose more than 10% after the company showed signs that its investments in AI were boosting profits.

microsoftOn the other hand, it was punished for its spending plans and slowing cloud growth. The company’s stock price fell 10%, wiping out $357 billion in market capitalization in its worst day since March 2020.

It became a burden for high-tech-minded people. Nasdaq Compositedown 0.72%. of S&P500 Although it fell by 0.13%, Dow Jones Industrial Average This bucked the uptrend by 0.11%.

Cryptocurrency has fallen along with stocks, Bitcoin The stock fell more than 5% to its lowest level in nearly two months.

However, there are some bright spots in the market. goldThe stock rebounded after experiencing midday losses in the U.S. as traders took profits. The precious metal’s price had reached a record high of $5,626.8 earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose more than 3% as US President Donald Trump considered attacking Iran, Reuters reported.

President Trump said Thursday at the White House that he will announce a new Federal Reserve chairman to replace Jerome Powell in the United States on Friday morning. According to Reuters, President Trump also supported a Senate agreement on government funding that would avoid a shutdown of federal services.

India is scheduled to announce the Union Budget for fiscal year 2027 on Sunday, February 1, an event that could trigger a market decline, according to BofA Securities.

As the weekend approaches, global investors should still keep an eye on the news headlines.

—CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Garrett Downs contributed to this report.

Denmark praises talks with the US over Greenland. Copenhagen’s foreign minister on Thursday welcomed “very constructive” high-level talks on Greenland’s future, saying talks on the island were “back on track”.

Amazon could invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI. With AI startup CEO Sam Altman Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been in direct discussions, CNBC confirmed Thursday. This is a sign of confidence in OpenAI, as Amazon has invested in AI competitor Anthropic.

The US trade deficit sharply increased in November. Despite President Trump’s tariffs, that amount was $56.8 billion, an increase of 94.6% from October.

US stock indexes almost fell due to Microsoft. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed and rose. regions of europe Stocks 600 down 0.23%, SAP Shares plunged 16% after disappointing profits.

(PRO) Russia and China control key metals. It is essential to the development of military equipment, and one American company is working on a replacement. The company’s rating was changed to “buy” after the investment bank initiated coverage.

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund made $247 billion in 2025, driven by rise in technology and banks

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund posted annual profits of 2.36 trillion kronor ($246.9 billion) on Thursday. Throughout 2025, the fund returned SEK 13.5 trillion. This is the highest annual return since the fund’s inception in the 1990s.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) manages the Fund on behalf of Norwegian citizens. “Technology, financials and basic materials stocks stood out and contributed significantly to overall returns,” NBIM CEO Nikolai Tangen said in a statement Thursday.

— Chloe Taylor