NEW YORK, Jan 10, 2026, 04:15 EST
U.S. stocks closed at record highs on Friday, with the S&P 500 ending up 0.65% at 6,966.28 and the Dow up 0.48% at 49,504.07, as chipmakers led a broad push higher to wrap the first full week of 2026. The Nasdaq gained 0.82% to 23,671.35, and the PHLX semiconductor index jumped 2.7% to a record; Broadcom rose 3.8% and Vistra surged after Meta agreed to buy power from its nuclear plants. “Investors are getting granular and picking the winners and losers,” said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments. (Reuters)
The rally came with investors trying to map the next Federal Reserve move after the unemployment rate fell to 4.4% in December even as job gains missed forecasts. Traders in rate futures cut expectations for near-term easing, with one Reuters tally showing a 44% chance of a cut by April, and bets shifting toward June; Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said “the low-hire environment continues,” while Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said, “Inflation is still too high.” (Reuters)
Markets also pushed past trade jitters that have flared around the Trump administration’s tariff regime, with investors still waiting on a Supreme Court decision that could swing policy. U.S. stocks dipped briefly during the session as the court failed to weigh in, then recovered; small-cap and blue-chip gauges hit new peaks even as bonds stayed under pressure, Bloomberg reported. (Bloomberg)
The Labor Department’s jobs report showed payrolls rose 50,000 in December and the jobless rate dipped to 4.4%, with job losses in construction, retail and manufacturing but solid wage growth. The data reinforced expectations among economists that the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its Jan. 27-28 meeting. (Reuters)
In broader markets, investors treated the jobs figures as soft but not a crack in the labor market, keeping risk appetite intact into the weekend. “Payrolls were a little bit light relative to consensus, but still fairly strong numbers,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. (Reuters)
One debate hanging over the rally is whether big tech keeps spending heavily on artificial intelligence hardware and data centers — capital expenditures, or “capex.” Dhaval Joshi, chief strategist at BCA Research, wrote that if this capex cycle follows past tech booms then “AI-plays in the stock market are in imminent danger,” though he added: “Even if the AI capex boom ends, an ultra-accommodative Fed can prolong the stock market rally.” (Investopedia)
But markets have a live tripwire: the Supreme Court case over tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law often shortened to IEEPA, and whether it allows broad tariffs without Congress. A ruling that unwinds tariffs — or forces refunds — could jolt yields and equities, and a surprise outcome either way could spark sharp moves; “We’ve never seen a ruling that has such an economic impact,” said Eddie Ghabour, CEO of Key Advisors Wealth Management. (Reuters)
For now, the early-2026 bid is holding. The next test is whether the coming run of earnings and inflation data backs up hopes for lower rates without reopening the same old worries about prices and policy shocks.
