Markets brace for Fed decision and major tech earnings as gold surges and Amazon plans 16,000 job cuts

Fed and earnings dominate the day

Markets focused on the Federal Reserve’s January 28, 2026 policy decision and the messaging that would follow from Chair Jerome Powell. With rate cuts already delivered late in 2025, traders were largely looking for a hold, but for signals about inflation risks, labor-market resilience, and how long policymakers intend to keep policy restrictive.

At the same time, investors prepared for quarterly results from major technology companies including Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla. With AI infrastructure spending still a defining theme, guidance on capital expenditures, cloud demand, and monetization timelines has become as important as headline profit figures.

Gold, crypto, and corporate restructuring

Gold pushed to fresh highs, reflecting a mix of risk-hedging demand and longer-term inflation uncertainty. Bitcoin traded near $90,000, a level that keeps digital assets in focus even as risk appetite rotates around tech and macro policy expectations.

Amazon also signaled another major round of job reductions, telling employees that about 16,000 roles would be eliminated. The cuts fit a broader pattern of large firms trying to simplify structures while funding expensive bets, especially AI-related investment, without sacrificing profitability targets.