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Major companies have announced over 25,000 layoffs in the U.S. this month alone, with Amazon leading the charge with 14,000 announced corporate job cuts.
This number may increase to 30,000 for Amazon by the end of the year, as CEO Andy Jassy pursues a vision of operating like "the world's biggest startup.”
Other big corporations have followed the same trend, with Target making 1,800 corporate cuts, Starbucks 2,000 positions, and, in Europe, Nestlé plans for over 20,000 cuts.
What distinguishes this round of layoffs is the focus on white-collar roles seen as vulnerable to AI-driven automation—affecting middle managers, analysts, and corporate staff.
Gartner analysts predict that by 2026, one in five organizations will use AI to eliminate at least half of their management layers.
According to a KPMG survey, 78% of executives face intense pressure from boards and investors to prove AI is saving money and boosting profits, with traditional metrics often failing to capture its business impact.
Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that AI will "replace literally half of all white-collar workers," while Salesforce's Marc Benioff claims AI is already doing up to 50% of his company's workload.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, potentially spiking unemployment to 10-20%.
Nvidia Makes History Again As First $5 Trillion Company
NVDA hit a $5 trillion market on October 29, becoming the first company in history to reach this milestone. The achievement came just three months after breaching $4 trillion, further cementing its position as the dominant force in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Since Q4 2022 — when Chat-GPT launched and began the AI-boom — Nvidia shares have climbed by over 1200% and Nvidia's valuation now exceeds the entire cryptocurrency market and equals roughly half the size of Europe's benchmark Stoxx 600 index.
The milestone comes on the back of CEO Jensen Huang unveiling $500 billion in AI chip orders and plans to build seven supercomputers for the US government.
However, there are warnings that AI's current expansion relies on a few dominant players financing each other's capacity, and valuations may be running hot. The real test comes on November 19 when Nvidia reports its quarterly results.
Fed Lowers Rates, but May Be Last Cut of 2025
The Federal Reserve delivered a quarter-point rate cut last night, but Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference sent a clear message: don't expect another cut anytime soon.
While the Fed moved forward with the expected reduction, Powell pointed to two key obstacles that may prevent further easing this year. First, the ongoing federal government shutdown has created a data blackout, depriving policymakers of critical employment and inflation reports.
Second, Powell revealed "strongly differing views" among Fed officials about the path forward, with a "growing chorus" advocating for a pause before cutting rates again.
Markets responded by adjusting expectations, now pricing in roughly two-to-one odds for a December rate cut — down from what had been considered more certain just hours earlier.
While the Fed still seems to remain committed to eventual rate cuts, the timeline has become dependent on the government shutdown and clearer economic signals about inflation and employment trends.
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The new trading year kicked off with a dip in equities with Big Tech leading losses in Tuesday’s session, AAPL being the big loser after a downgrade from Barclays citing concern in iPhone demand. Yields and the USD ripped higher, the US Dollar Index having its biggest daily gain since March 2023. Crude oil capped off an interesting session with a pump and dump rollercoaster ride.
Charts To Watch: Apple - AAPL Apple stock fell 3.6% during Tuesdays New York session, it’s worst day since August. The dump came after Barclays downgraded the iPhone maker and lowered its price target on concerns of slowing iPhone sales, particularly in China. This saw the stock price gap down, erasing all of December’s gains and hitting a low of 183.89 before finding some bids and rebounding modestly.
US Dollar Index – DXY DXY surged on the first trading day of 2024, having its biggest up day since March 2023, there was little in the way of newsflow behind the move but more a result of a jump in yields and some oversold technicals that were amplified by a low volume session. DXY retaking the 200-day SMA and 102 handle, hitting a high of 102.22, the next test to the upside being the resistance around 102.57. Crude Oil – USOUSD The most interesting move today was in Crude Oil, initially surging in the APAC session amid growing Middle East tensions, only to dump at the start of the US session with no obvious catalyst.
Some souring of risk sentiment and a stronger USD seemingly the only drivers. USOUSD finishing the session just above 70 USD a barrel, with the major support at 67 the next level to watch to the downside.
Global markets chopped about in Tuesday’s session with no key data released with traders seemingly waiting on the sidelines for US CPI and a slew of bank earnings later in the week. Gold – XAUUSD XAUUSD rallied in Tuesdays APAC session testing the 2040 USD an ounce resistance level before a sharp drop as Europe opened saw drop to a low of 2026. This will be a key level to watch for the gold bulls with 2040 now establishing itself as a cap to further price increase.
AUDUSD The Aussie dollar took a hit on mixed risk sentiment, reversing modest gains made in the APAC session on a surprise beat in building approvals and above-forecast retail sales. AUDUSD losing the 0.67 handle and holding around 2024 lows. Ahead today AUDUSD traders will a CPI reading to navigate, with Year on year inflation expected to drop to 4.4% from last months reading of 4.9%.
Crude Oil – USOUSD Crude oil pared some of Mondays’ steep losses with Mid-East tensions continuing stoking supply concerns. USOUSD continuing to trade in its 2024 range of 70 support to the downside and 74 resistance to the upside. Geopolitical events currently being the main driver of crudes price action.
Ahead today with have Aussie CPI in the APAC session and BOE Governor Bailey speaking in the UK session.
USD was ultimately flat in a choppy session on Thursday after hotter-than-expected US CPI data. The US Dollar Index (DXY) hitting briefly breeching the resistance at 102.63 to hit a high of 102.76. This proved to be another false breakout of this level with DXY gradually retracing for the rest of the session to unchanged levels.
JPY outperformed, after an initial spike higher in USDJPY above 146 after the CPI reading, the retracement was more profound in this pair with it ultimately trading just above the psychological 145 level. A report did hit the newswires that said the BoJ is considering lowering its price outlook for FY2024 to the middle 2% range, though with dovish BoJ expectations being priced in it didn’t deter the Yen bulls. Risk sensitive currencies GBP and AUD had a mixed reaction.
GBPUSD making gains ahead of the UK GDP reading today. AUDUSD posting losses despite better than expected trade data that seemed to be interpreted as more evidence of a slowing Aussie economy. Gold again tested the 2040 USD an ounce resistance before a spike in the USD post CPI saw a steep decline to a low of 2013.
Early in the APAC session the Gold bulls look keen to test this level again with XAUUSD rebounding to around 2035. This will be a key level to watch for Gold traders.
USD ultimately ended lower on Monday with the US Dollar Index (DXY) first testing the resistance at 102.57 to the upside before reversing course to test the support at 102 to the downside. A risk on equity markets and some dovish developments. Data saw the NY Fed Survey show lower than expected inflation expectations.
There was also a dovish call from Bank of America regarding the Feds holdings of US Treasuries along with what was seen as dovish comments from Fed members Bostic and Logan all weighing on the Greenback. JPY bounced back against the USD after its weak start to 2024. USDJPY falling from highs of 144.92 to lows of 143.67 before finding some support.
Possible positioning before todays Tokyo CPI figure and a fall in US yields seemingly the drivers. CHF also saw decent gains against the USD and EUR after a hotter than expected December Swiss CPI print where the year-on-year inflation rate rose to 1.7% against an expected 1.5% Crude Oil prices were a big mover with USOUSD dropping almost 3% as a result of sharp price cuts by top exporter Saudi Arabia stoked demand fears. There was also a reported rise in OPEC output offsetting any supply worries generated by the ongoing tension in the Middle East.
USOUSD finding support at the 70 USD a barrel support level for now, the next level lower to watch will be the major support at 67 USD a barrel.
The recovery in strength on the DXY has led to Gold reversing strongly from the all-time high of 2088 which was reached at the end of 2023. Last week, the US employment data was released stronger than expected with the Non-Farm employment change at 216K (Forecast: 168K), however, wage inflation remained unchanged at 0.4%. This set of data is likely to push back the anticipated timeline for potential Fed rate cuts, from March to May, which could see further upside potential for the DXY.
Gold is currently trading along the 2032 price level which coincides with the 50% Fibonacci retracement. If the DXY continues to climb, further downside can be expected for Gold. Look for the price to test the bullish trendline at the 2020 price level to signal further downside, with the next key support level at 2007.