ii view monthly round-up: January 2026
Equity analyst Keith Bowman looks at company events over the past month.
2nd February 2026 11:59
by Keith Bowman from interactive investor
ii view monthly round-up: January 2026
Demand for dollar-denominated commodities helped shape markets over the month. The mining heavy FTSE 100 index rose 2.9%, while a gain of 13% for the commodity heavy Brazilian Bovespa index comfortably outpaced a 1.3% gain for Wall Street’s S&P 500. Despite major month-end wobbles, silver still added 18%, gold 13% and copper 5%.
Within that, emerging markets fund manager Ashmore Group (LSE:ASHM) soared by just over a third. In January, the company that runs largely bond-focused funds announced a first net inflow of monies for more than four years.
A quarterly net inflow of $2.6 billion (£1.9 billion) to late December 2025 contrasted with a net outflow of $300 million during the prior quarter. End of year assets under management of $52.5 billion was up from $48.7 billion in late June. Superior economic growth by emerging markets compared to developed economies remained an attraction, according to Ashmore head Mark Coombs.
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Shares in diversified miner and FTSE 100 company Rio Tinto Ordinary Shares (LSE:RIO) rose 12% in January. Rio detailed production of its two biggest profit generators - iron ore and copper - that exceeded City hopes.
Precious metals miner Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) also improved, up 11% for the month. Final quarter 2025 silver production rose 5.9% from the previous quarter. Alongside gains for precious metals during January, the FTSE 100 company, which announced lower production targets for 2026, predicted silver and gold output would return to 2025 levels in 2027 and 2028.
Oil and gas play BP (LSE:BP.) appeared to underline a refocusing back towards fossil fuels and away from greener energy. The FTSE 100 giant announced a write-down charge of up to $5 billion in relation to its energy transition gas and low carbon business over the month. The price of Brent crude oil rose 14% in January, likely assisting a 7% gain for BP shares.
On the downside, credit services company Experian (LSE:EXPN) fell 18%. North America remains the group’s biggest revenue generator at around two-thirds. The FTSE 100 company announced further quarterly sales growth for the region but with sales slowing from the previous quarter. Sales away from North America were largely flat.
Recruitment agency PageGroup (LSE:PAGE) fell 13%. Lower fourth-quarter 2025 profits were accompanied by cautious 2026 management outlook comments. Page helps companies across more than 20 sectors, including accountancy, technology and engineering, to hire staff.
Primark owner Associated British Foods (LSE:ABF) issued a profit warning that left its shares 10% lower for the month. Weaker than expected European Primark sales and tough US cooking oil and baking ingredient sales are expected to weigh on annual 2025 profits.
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In the US, software maker and AI play Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 11% in January. Microsoft detailed revenues that beat Wall Street forecasts but with disappointing growth in cloud data and its business hosting other companies AI software.
Microsoft spent $37.5 billion during its latest quarter as the tech titan continued to invest in data centres. That rose from $22.6 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reversed 4% in January. The electric vehicle maker detailed its first ever annual revenue drop. Fourth-quarter 2025 vehicle deliveries, the nearest number Tesla gives to sales, of 418,227 vehicles fell from 497,099 in Q3.
On the upside, Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) shares gained 9%. The coffee seller announced a second consecutive quarterly gain in same store sales as management continued to push a recovery under its ‘Back to Starbucks’ transformation plan.
Finally, shares in Magnificent Seven company Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) rose by 8% in January. The owner of apps including Facebook and WhatsApp predicted its highest growth in sales for more than four years over the current ongoing quarter to late March, likely assisted by AI help in targeting ads for app users.
Meta invested $72.2 billion in AI-focused infrastructure during 2025 and plans to invest up to $135 billion during 2026.
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