Before the bell: Presidents’ Day

Wall Street remains closed today. The Japanese economy outperforms expectations, and Tencent is gaining traction on the stock market.

The S&P 500 closed unchanged on Friday, ending the week with a 1.5% gain. The Nasdaq added 0.4% on the last trading day and posted a 2.6% weekly gain. Nvidia (+2.6%) stood out with strong performance, while Procter & Gamble (-4.8%) lost ground as analysts and investors voiced concerns over its U.S. revenue growth, particularly for brands like Pampers and Dreft. In Europe, stocks edged down by an average of 0.1% on Friday, with the Bel20 dropping 0.8%. Lotus Bakeries (+1.8%) and Solvay (+2.1%) managed to stay afloat, but their gains were overshadowed by losses in Umicore (-9.4%), UCB (-3.6%), and Argenx (-2.1%). Umicore was punished for disappointing results, while pharmaceutical stocks suffered from concerns over potential U.S. import tariffs. This also affected AstraZeneca (-2.1%) and Novartis (-2.5%).

Asian markets are showing mixed sentiment this morning. The Topix in Tokyo rose 0.3% after news that the Japanese economy expanded by 0.7% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter—far exceeding the modest 0.3% growth that had been expected. While this is good news, it also increases the likelihood that Japan’s central bank will raise interest rates further. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, stocks are down 1% on average. Tencent, however, jumped 3.4%. With Wall Street closed for Presidents’ Day, trading is expected to be relatively quiet today.

More Than Ten Cent in Gains

Alibaba’s stock appears to be taking a breather. After rising 4.3% on Wall Street on Friday, the stock is down 1.6% this morning in Hong Kong. A pause seems justified, given that the Chinese tech giant has surged 57% in just one month. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with technology entrepreneurs this morning, with Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma among the attendees. Tencent (+3.2%), the other major Chinese tech powerhouse, is also performing well. Its stock has now climbed back to levels last seen in late September and briefly spiked as much as 7.8% after the company integrated AI application DeepSeek into its offerings. Chinese tech is officially back on the stock market.

Warren Buffett Has a Taste for Beer

Like other major investors, Berkshire Hathaway is required to disclose its quarterly buying and selling activity. The latest filing reveals that Warren Buffett’s investment firm purchased 5.6 million shares of Constellation Brands in the final months of last year. This is surprising, considering that many investors are currently offloading alcohol stocks. Last week, Heineken posted strong quarterly results, but tighter regulations on alcohol sales have left investors wary. Perhaps Berkshire is already second-guessing its decision? Constellation Brands ended 2024 at a stock price of 221 dollars, but by Friday, shares had dropped to 162.94 dollars.

Did You Know …

that Warren Buffett has never consumed alcohol? He has also never smoked. Perhaps he follows a healthy lifestyle to maximize the benefits of compound interest. Then again, “healthy” might be a stretch—Buffett is a devoted fan of McDonald’s and drinks plenty of Cherry Coke.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.