New York, Jan 7, 2026, 07:35 (EST)
- U.S. stock futures were mixed after the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Tuesday
- Chip and data-storage shares led gains on renewed AI demand optimism tied to CES
- Investors are bracing for U.S. jobs data that could reset bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts
U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday after a chip-led rally drove the Dow and S&P 500 to record closes in the prior session, as investors paused ahead of key U.S. labor-market data. Futures on the Dow were up 24 points, while S&P 500 futures were down 6 points and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 58 points.
The hesitation comes at a moment when Wall Street’s early-year gains are already stretching round-number milestones. The Dow sits about 1% from 50,000 and the S&P 500 is within about 1% of 7,000, levels traders are watching as the new earnings season nears.
The next read on U.S. hiring could prove decisive for interest-rate expectations, after the Fed cut rates three times late in 2025. Due on Wednesday are the ADP private payrolls report, a gauge of private-sector hiring, and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a measure of labor demand, ahead of Friday’s government nonfarm payrolls report — the monthly jobs report. Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said further weakness would support rate-cut expectations, while stronger figures could “quickly revive the hawks.”
On Tuesday, the Dow rose 0.99% to 49,462.08, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.62% to 6,944.82 and the Nasdaq gained 0.65% to 23,547.17. Trading volume hit 18.7 billion shares, above the recent average, as investors positioned early in the year.
Chip and storage-related names powered much of the move after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and described new storage technology aimed at AI systems. SanDisk jumped more than 27%, Western Digital rallied 17%, Seagate rose 14% and Micron gained 10%, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index climbed 2.75% to an all-time high. Argent Capital portfolio manager Jed Ellerbroek said he expects “a very strong earnings season for Big Tech,” with capital spending forecasts “revised higher again.”
Health care also helped, with Moderna surging nearly 11% after BofA Global Research raised its price target — an analyst estimate of where a stock could trade. Energy shares lagged as oil prices retreated, with Exxon Mobil and Chevron down 3.4% and 4.5%, while Johnson Controls fell 6.2% after Huang’s comments raised concerns about demand for data-center cooling systems.
Big technology stocks broadly set the tone, with Amazon up 3.4% and Microsoft rising 1.2%, while Apple fell 1.8% and Nvidia ended 0.5% lower, the Associated Press reported. U.S. crude settled down 2% at $57.13 a barrel and the 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.16% as traders waited for more economic signals.
But the rally has left stocks looking expensive heading into earnings, with the S&P 500 trading at about 22 times expected earnings — a price-to-earnings ratio that sits above its five-year average, according to LSEG data. A strong jobs report or a resurgence in inflation could force investors to reprice the path for rate cuts and pressure richly valued AI-linked shares.
