4:10pm: Nasdaq stalls
Wall Street kicked off the first trading day of 2026 on a mixed but mostly upbeat note, with blue-chip stocks doing the heavy lifting even as tech took a breather.
The Dow Jones led the way, climbing 319 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 48,382, while the broader S&P 500 added a modest 0.2% to close at 6,858.
Small caps also joined the party, with the Russell 2000 jumping 1% to 2,506. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, couldn’t quite find its footing, slipping by 6 points to end essentially flat at 23,236.
Despite Friday’s gains in much of the market, the much-hyped “Santa Claus rally” is still struggling to materialize. Historically, stocks tend to rise during the final five trading days of December and the first two of January, but this year’s version has so far disappointed. The S&P 500 is down nearly 1% over that stretch, putting Wall Street on track for a third straight underwhelming Santa period.
For now, investors appear to be rotating into more traditional and smaller names, while showing less enthusiasm for big tech as the new year gets underway.
12:04pm: Wall Street wobbles
US stocks edged lower in the early afternoon on Friday, led by a 0.4% drop in the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the Dow Jones was flat at about 48,076 points.
Major movers included several furniture retailers, which surged after the Trump administration delayed a planned increase in tariffs on certain imported goods.
Shares of RH (NYSE:RH) jumped 9.4% to about $196 on the update, Wayfair Inc (NYSE:W) was up 6.1% at $107, and Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) shares added 5% at $188.
9:55am: Big Tech stocks drive gains
US stocks opened the first session of 2026 with gains on Friday, as investors kicked off the new year following Wall Street’s third consecutive year of double-digit percentage increases.
The Nasdaq led early advances, rising 1.2% to 23,524, while the S&P 500 added 0.7% to 6,891 and the Dow Jones inched up 0.1% to 48,121. The Russell 2000 was also higher, up 0.3% at 2,488.
Markets are coming off a roller-coaster finish to 2025 that nevertheless left major indexes with strong annual gains. The S&P 500 rose more than 16% for the year, while the Nasdaq outperformed with a gain exceeding 20%.
Precious metals also started the year on a positive note, with gold and silver climbing further after their best annual performances since 1979. Aluminum prices surpassed $3,000 per ton for the first time since 2022.
Tech giants and AI-focused companies were among the early leaders. Nvidia jumped 2.9%, while Oracle and Google each rose more than 1% in morning trading, extending optimism that the AI boom and Big Tech growth will continue into 2026.
Tesla shares rose 0.9% after the company reported Q4 2025 production of 434,358 vehicles and deliveries of 418,227, with Model 3/Y deliveries surpassing expectations at 406,585. The company also deployed 14.2 GWh of energy storage in the quarter, bringing its full-year totals to 1,654,667 vehicles produced, 1,636,129 delivered, and 46.7 GWh in storage deployments.
8:30: Futures point to positive start
US stock futures are pointing to a positive start for the new year of 2026, as global markets build on momentum from a strong previous 12 months.
Tech stocks were set to continue to be a driving force for gains, with Nasdaq futures up 0.9% ahead of the first trading day of the year.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were pointing to gains of 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
Russell 2000 futures were up 0.6%, as traders return from the holiday with a fresh wave of enthusiasm for domestic small and mid-caps.
That said, volumes are likely to remain light today, with many investors still on holiday.
Economic data is light too, with the S&P Global manufacturing PMI report due this morning, as well as a Fed balance sheet update.
Crude oil prices were down slightly at $56.90 a barrel of WTI, while gold was climbing again, up 1.3% to $4,374, having hit a new high above $4,550 an ounce on Boxing Day before dropping below $4,300 on New Year's Eve.
Crypto markets are in the green with bitcoin up 0.6% at $89,340 and ethereum up 2.3% at $3,050.
The important question of this time of year, said market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth, is what’s in store for 2026. He says the main themes to ponder as the year goes are as follows:
Midterm elections "mean headline risk" for markets, he started, though the most important results will not be known until results in early November. "History suggests midterm years can bring more chop and sharper pullbacks, even if the longer-term trend can remain constructive."
It could also be a "potentially landmark year for tech IPOs", with SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic and Kraken all being discussed as 2026 candidates, with reports suggesting trillions in money raised.
As AI moves from 'promise' to needing to demonstrate 'payoff', Polcari says investors "will start demanding proof – who is monetizing and who is just spending".
A new Fed chair is a certainty, with Jerome Powell’s term ending in May. However, policy "remains an uncertainty", says Polcari, "and the succession plan will be a real market variable — and that will shape the conversations around rates, inflation, growth, and policy."
Stock valuations are no longer cheap, he adds, with the S&P is trading around 22 times forward earnings, above longer-term averages, "which means fundamentals matter more".