Global markets mixed as tech leads and healthcare lags

US equities painted a mixed picture on Tuesday, as technology heavyweights propelled key indices to new heights despite heavy healthcare losses. The S&P 500 pushed a fresh intraday record gaining 0.52%, extending its winning streak to a fifth session, while the Nasdaq 100 rose by 1%, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.01% and the Dow slipping 0.64%.

Technology dominated the corporate action – Microsoft and Apple rose over 2% before this week’s earnings, Nvidia around 1.80%, Broadcom near 4%, Micron at 6%, and Amazon above 1%, sustaining chip sector strength. General Motors jumped more than 5% on upgraded 2026 guidance and UPS added 2% after beating estimates. The Dow’s decline centred on UnitedHealth’s 20% tumble after warning of its first annual revenue drop in three decades, with CVS Health (-9.70%) and Humana (-18.80%) hit by Trump administration proposals to freeze Medicare Advantage payments; Boeing fell 1.20% post-results.

Spotlight now shifts to Magnificent Seven earnings with Meta, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday, followed by Apple on Thursday, to assess artificial intelligence (AI) rally’s resilience, ahead of the Fed meeting on Wednesday. The DXY drifted to 96.16 (lowest since February 2022), down 1.89% over four weeks and 10.83% yearly.

Shifting to Europe, markets closed stronger amid weekly gains, lifted by an EU-India free trade agreement after nearly two decades that is set to double EU exports to India by 2032 through 96.60% tariff relief. STOXX 50 added 0.70% closing at 6 000 and STOXX 600 closed at 0.60% to 613. London’s FTSE gained 0.59%, while Germany’s DAX 40 slipped 0.20% to 24 908 on profit-taking after three mild up days.

In the corporate sector, Argenx jumped 4%, ASML rose 3.40% pre-earnings, UniCredit and BBVA neared 2% gains, and Puma soared 9.90% after selling a stake to China's Anta Sports.

Asia extended the bullish momentum, hitting fresh highs as the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan rose 1%, with US mega-cap strength outweighing President Trump’s tariff talk (IG analysis). Regional indices advanced with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.85%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 1.28% and China’s Shanghai Composite edging 0.19% higher. The offshore yuan dipped below 6.96 against USD after a soft People’s Bank of China (PBOC) fixing at 6.9858 (firmer than prior but below forecasts), signalling measured appreciation control since November 2025. China's industrial profits logged their first monthly rise since September and best annual gain since 2021 on competition curbs, ahead of key PMI data.

Local equities dipped with the JSE All Share Index recording a drop of 0.92%, following by the JSE Top 40 and Resource 10 declining 0.93% and 3.91%, respectively. JSE Metals and Mining also fell by 4.38% compared to yesterday’s surge. 

Commodities continued to shine with gold driving the momentum trading at $5 086.49 an ounce, up 1.44%, while silver continued rising at 3.77%.  Brent crude oil rose by 1.95% trading at $66.87 per barrel.