The daily business briefing: February 1, 2019

1. Amazon shares drop after earnings miss, spending continues

Amazon shares fell by more than 5 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday after the online retail giant forecast first-quarter sales below Wall Street's expectations, and warned of increased investments in 2019. The reasons for the gloom included regulatory hurdles in India and an e-commerce slowdown in Europe. Amazon started yanking many products from its India site late Thursday to meet new limits on foreign investment. The company forecast net sales between $56 billion and $60 billion in the first quarter of 2019, falling short of analysts' average estimate of $60.77 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Fourth quarter net sales jumped 19.7 percent to $72.38 billion, beating expectations of $71.87 billion thanks to a strong holiday season.

Reuters CNBC

2. January job gains smash expectations

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, smashing expectations despite a feared drag from the 35-day partial government shutdown. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast, on average, a gain of 172,000 jobs in what have been a widely anticipated pullback following December's surprisingly strong gain of 312,000 non-farm jobs. The Labor Department said the government shutdown had no "discernible" impact on hiring overall, although it helped nudge the unemployment rate higher. The unemployment rate edged up to 4 percent from 3.9 percent the month before. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits increased by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000 for the last week of January, the biggest jump since September 2017.

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MarketWatch CNBC

3. S&P, Dow post biggest January gains in decades

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday ended trading in the first month of the year with monthly gains of more than 7 percent, the best January either index has posted in 30 years. The S&P 500 finished the month by rising nearly 0.9 percent on Thursday, while the Dow edged down by less than 0.1 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged by 1.4 percent. January marked a rebound after the worst December for stocks in decades. Stocks have gained in recent weeks thanks to solid corporate earnings and confidence in the economy. The Federal Reserve gave markets another boost this week by signaling a new "patient" approach to any further interest rate hikes. U.S. stock-index futures were mixed early Friday.

CNN CNBC

4. Trump confident he'll reach a trade deal with China

President Trump said Thursday he was confident that the U.S. and China would reach a trade deal, but he said China would have to agree to sweeping reforms to avoid tougher tariffs on its exports to the U.S. Trump said any agreement he makes with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will have to go far beyond increased China imports of U.S. goods. The U.S. wants China to agree to make structural changes, including ending its practice of requiring American companies to give Chinese partners trade secrets in exchange for access to Chinese markets. The two sides ended two days of high-level talks in Washington signaling goodwill but more obstacles ahead. Trump and Xi could meet to try to seal an agreement next month.

The New York Times

5. Twitter removes troll accounts it says tried to influence 2018 midterms

Twitter identified and removed troll accounts from five countries trying to manipulate the 2018 midterms, the company revealed Thursday. Thousands of Twitter accounts from countries including Russia, Iran, and Venezuela were reportedly found to be copying Russia's 2016 interference tactics. Many of these accounts were backed by foreign governments and either spread disinformation or inflamed political discourse. The accounts used the same tactics as the Internet Research Agency, a Moscow-backed group indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller — 418 accounts came from Russia, 764 troll accounts from Venezuela were using IRA techniques, and another 6,000 U.S.-based posts with misinformation were deleted. Separately, Facebook removed 783 pages, groups, and accounts that were "engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior tied to Iran."

NBC News