A good mood prevails, for now – North American session Market wrap for January 26

[Ben Graham]

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for January 26

Today's session was typical for a FOMC week open: a high-paced start with opening gaps, followed by fading volume and action.

Given the current market risks, this lower volume makes sense.

Traders are facing a wall of uncertainty, including the potential Iran intervention, recent chaos from the Trump Administration, and the impending nomination of the next Federal Reserve Chair.

However, these factors provided the final fuel for the metals melt-up:

The US Dollar gapped down sharply, surrendering strength to Gold and Silver.

The yellow Bullion reached $5,000, briefly touching $5,130 before correcting. The correction did hit other metals, as seen with Platinum closing down 3%.

Outside of a decent performance in US stock benchmarks, the rest of the market was undecided and rangebound – even FX kept calm despite the huge run on the dollar.

Unless a major catalyst hits before the FOMC Decision (Wednesday 14:00), do not expect much meaningful movement.

In positive news away from the market madness, the body of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza was found today as the second phase of the ceasefire begins.

Discover:

• US Dollar Index (DXY) on pace to break 97.00 – Why is the Dollar falling ahead of the FOMC?
• Stocks rally to top of their ranges ahead of FOMC – Dow Jones and US Stocks Outlook
• FOMC Meeting Preview: Fed To Keep Rates on Hold, Implications for the DXY and Gold

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Market Close Heatmap – Source: TradingView – January 26, 2026

Except for Tesla which got rejected hard from angst relative to its earnings (releasing Wednesday after close), the rest of the Market remained very calm.

The session is green and all three major US Indexes close higher, with the Nasdaq leading the charge, up a calm 0.50% today.

The Russell 2000 however took a hit recently after marking new highs – Not a great sign for small-cap investors.

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

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Cross-Asset Daily Performance, January 26, 2026 – Source: TradingView

The daily asset picture resumes today's session very well:

High paced opens as trader unwound their weekend risk-trades before the action mean-reverted.

An important development to monitor however is the ongoing move in Gold and Silver, that are seeing imminent and very swift selloffs – Pre-FOMC profit-taking?

More on this coming up on a Metals update tomorrow.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

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Currency Performance, January 26, 2026 – Source: OANDA Labs

Today's session was tricky in the sense that most of the movement happened in the very early session, comprising also the weekend gaps.

Notable movers however have been the NZD and JPY, continuing to extend their runs higher. The first is strengthening suddenly from ongoing flows towards less Trump-exposed regions.

The latter however, the yen, is being moved by fears of intervention from the Ministry of Finance after recent action took USD/JPY very close to 160.00.

Sudden selloffs after such squeezes tend to trigger swift stops and high-volatility cascades.

Major Earnings in Tomorrow's session

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Earnings Calendar – January 26, 2026 – Source: Nasdaq.com

Tomorrow's earning session will focus on key traditional blue chips such as GM, UPS, UnitedHealth or even Boeing (if we can still call it a blue chip).

A look at Economic data releasing throughout today and tomorrow's sessions

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For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

Tuesday’s calendar is lighter but can still offer a few relevant views, led by US data in the morning with ADP weekly employment, housing prices and January consumer confidence setting the tone for USD sentiment.

\In Europe, traders will keep an ear on ECB speakers — Nagel and President Lagarde — for any last-minute guidance ahead of next week’s policy decisions.

Asia-Pacific closes the day with Australia’s December CPI and trimmed mean figures, a key input for RBA expectations, while the BoJ releases its latest policy meeting minutes, which could stir some further JPY volatility.

With the FOMC decision coming the day after tomorrow, traders may be less inclined to take aggressive positions.

Expect price action to cool off between data releases, with markets likely shifting into wait-and-see mode ahead of the main event. The only market that shows potential for movement is Metals!

Safe Trades, keep a close eye on the Middle East!

Follow Elior on Twitter/X for Additional Market News, interactions and Insights @EliorManier

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