Key Market Events for Feb 2–6, 2026: U.S. Jobs Data, ISM, Big Tech and Pharma Earnings

Markets enter February after a volatile end to January. On the final trading day of the month, investors reacted to hotter-than-expected inflation data alongside reports of a new nominee for Federal Reserve chair. Precious metals added to the turbulence: silver, which had rallied sharply, dropped more than 27%, and gold-related equities came under heavy selling pressure. Against this backdrop, the week begins with elevated uncertainty and a dense calendar of macro releases and corporate earnings.

U.S. labor market data and Fed leadership transition
The key release will be the January U.S. employment report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. The data arrives amid news of a new Fed chair nominee, putting extra focus on signals from payrolls, the unemployment rate, and wage growth. Earlier in the week, several leading indicators will set the tone: the ADP report on Wednesday at 8:15 a.m., JOLTS job openings on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., and weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday.

Big Tech earnings: advertising and cloud infrastructure
Alphabet and Amazon sit at the center of the earnings calendar, with Alphabet reporting on Wednesday and Amazon on Thursday. For Alphabet, attention will be on advertising revenue trends, YouTube performance, and Google Cloud growth amid ongoing competition in cloud services. For Amazon, investors will focus on e-commerce margins, AWS performance, the trajectory of its advertising business, and guidance on capital spending for infrastructure.

Pharma spotlight and GLP-1 market read-through
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk report on Wednesday, making the week an important checkpoint for the GLP-1 weight-loss category and demand trends. Key points will include sales performance of flagship drugs, production capacity, and changes in insurance coverage. Pfizer and Merck report on Tuesday, adding broader context on pharmaceutical pricing and pipeline momentum.

Semiconductors and platform economics
The chip sector will be highlighted by AMD earnings on Tuesday, followed by Qualcomm and Arm Holdings on Wednesday. These reports should provide additional read-throughs on data center trends, the traditional CPU market, and demand conditions in smartphones and mobile computing. Platform and technology names also in focus include PayPal on Tuesday and Uber on Wednesday, while MicroStrategy and Roblox report on Thursday. The week begins with Palantir and Disney earnings on Monday.

Manufacturing and services surveys: activity and pricing signals
The macro calendar opens on Monday with manufacturing data: Manufacturing PMI at 9:45 a.m. and ISM Manufacturing at 10:00 a.m. Pricing components will be closely watched after the late-January inflation surprise. On Wednesday, the services sector takes center stage with Services PMI at 9:45 a.m. and ISM Non-Manufacturing at 10:00 a.m., offering additional insight into activity levels and price pressures in the largest part of the U.S. economy ahead of Friday’s jobs report.