January 8 Apple Breakfast Market Brief: Alphabet surpasses Apple, labor market continues to weaken, cryptocurrencies under pressure

Tech Stocks Shakeup: Google Surpasses Apple in Market Cap

Most notably, Alphabet’s stock closed up 2.5% yesterday, with a market capitalization reaching $3.88 trillion, surpassing Apple’s $3.84 trillion for the first time since 2019. This ranking reversal deeply reflects the starkly different choices made by the two tech giants in their AI strategies.

Google’s Gemini 3, launched last December, received widespread industry praise, and the seventh-generation tensor processor Ironwood, released in November, is seen as a strong alternative to NVIDIA’s products. In contrast, Apple has been less prominent in this AI race, with its planned new Siri assistant delayed from last year. Jefferies Financial this week downgraded Apple’s rating, predicting challenges for the company’s growth in 2026.

U.S. Labor Market Shows Signs of Weakness

Data released on Wednesday sent a series of weak signals. U.S. private sector employment in December increased by only 41,000 jobs, below the expected 50,000; November job openings fell to 7.146 million, well below the forecast of 7.6 million, hitting a new low in over a year. Notably, the nationwide unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest in four years.

Interestingly, the December non-manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose to 54.4, a new high since October, indicating that service sector demand remains robust. Economists forecast that December added 73,000 jobs, slightly higher than November’s 64,000. However, looking at the longer term, since mid-last year, tariffs, reduced immigration, and AI development have significantly weighed on the employment market. The average monthly job growth in the first five months of this year was only 17,000, far below the 147,000 over the past 12 months.

Mixed Stock Market Performance, U.S. Treasury Yields Ease

The performance of the three major U.S. stock indices was mixed: Dow down 0.94%, S&P 500 down 0.34%, Nasdaq up 0.16%; China Golden Dragon Index fell 1.58%. European stocks also showed mixed results, with the UK and France down 0.74% and 0.04%, respectively, while Germany rose 0.92%.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield is about 4.15%, down 2 basis points from the previous trading day, reflecting market expectations of further easing by the Federal Reserve. The dollar index rose 0.14% to 98.72, continuing to strengthen amid geopolitical tensions.

Crypto Assets Under Pressure

Bitcoin fell 2.75% in 24 hours, currently trading around $91,100 (real-time quote: 96.62K, up 1.95% in 24 hours); Ethereum declined 4.05%, now at $3,161 (real-time quote: 3.35K, up 2.00% in 24 hours).

Commodity Markets Volatility Intensifies

Gold dropped 0.86% to $4,456 per ounce. WTI crude oil fell 1.0% to $56.4 per barrel. Goldman Sachs predicts that after silver hit a historic high in 2025, its price volatility will continue. Goldman pointed out that liquidity constraints in London have significantly amplified price swings, and with declining inventories, the market is now prone to squeezes.

Geopolitical and Energy Trading Focus

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Trump administration is actively discussing the possibility of purchasing Greenland, prioritizing diplomatic solutions but keeping multiple options open. The move quickly gained international attention, with the EU subsequently expressing full support for Greenland.

Regarding Venezuela, Trump announced that the country will transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., using the proceeds from oil sales to purchase American-made agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. This announcement caused a significant widening of the discount of Canadian crude oil against the U.S. benchmark WTI, jumping from $6.8 per barrel on Tuesday to $8.5, the largest discount since the end of 2023.

The U.S. Navy seized the Marinera oil tanker, flying a Russian flag and related to Venezuelan oil, in the North Atlantic, and a second tanker was also detained in the Caribbean. The White House stated that if necessary, involved crew members will be brought to the U.S. for prosecution.

AI Funding Boom: Anthropic’s Valuation Soars

According to The Wall Street Journal, chatbot developer Anthropic plans to raise $1 billion at a $350 billion valuation, nearly doubling its valuation from four months ago. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Coatue Management led the funding round, marking Anthropic’s third major deal in the past year. Previously, in September last year, the company raised $13 billion at a valuation of only $183 billion. NVIDIA and Microsoft are reportedly planning to invest a combined $15 billion in Anthropic.

Energy Giants’ Earnings Outlook Under Pressure

ExxonMobil stated that falling oil prices led to a profit decrease of $800 million to $1.2 billion in Q4, but increased fuel production margins partially offset this negative impact, adding up to $700 million. Asset sales contributed approximately $800 million to quarterly earnings.

Key Data to Watch

Today, key economic data will be released, including Switzerland’s December CPI, various Eurozone data (PPI, unemployment rate, industrial sentiment index, economic sentiment index), U.S. Challenger layoffs, initial jobless claims, trade balance, and EIA natural gas inventories.