New York, Jan 15, 2026, 10:10 ET — Regular session
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), tracking the Dow’s 30 blue-chip stocks, climbed roughly 0.2% in morning trading Thursday. Chip stocks edged higher following a strong earnings report from Taiwan Semiconductor.
This shift is significant as the Dow has relied heavily on a handful of big names in tech and financials this week. Traders are now weighing if this earnings season can sustain the rally without a steep decline in rate-cut expectations.
This follows a tough stretch for bank shares and another round of selling in expensive growth stocks. Because the Dow is price-weighted, stocks with higher prices have a bigger impact on the index than lower-priced ones moving by the same percentage.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average kicked off the session up 51.5 points, or 0.10%, landing at 49,201.1. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq followed suit, opening with gains. Reuters
TSMC posted a record profit for the fourth quarter and expects revenue to grow nearly 30% in U.S. dollars by 2026. It also raised its capital spending forecast for 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion. CEO C.C. Wei admitted the company feels “very nervous” about committing such a large investment if it misjudges demand, hinting at concerns over an AI-driven bubble. Reuters
On the Dow, Nvidia and Cisco led the way with notable gains early on, highlighting how just a few stocks can steer the index’s direction. Because the Dow is price-weighted, a $1 shift in any component moves the index roughly six points. MarketWatch
Morgan Stanley outpaced profit forecasts, driven by a 47% surge in investment banking revenue. CFO Sharon Yeshaya told Reuters the firm is witnessing “an accelerating pipeline” in M&A — mergers and acquisitions — and IPOs, the shorthand for initial public offerings. Reuters
Goldman Sachs beat expectations with record equity trading revenue and robust dealmaking, yet its shares slipped in premarket trading. Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets noted the stock had “already discounted” the strong results following a solid rally. Reuters
Financials have been caught in a swirl of policy uncertainty. Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder, noted earlier this week that a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates remains “still out there,” despite seeming tough to enforce. Reuters
Stocks closed lower Wednesday, with the Nasdaq falling 1% as investors pared back tech holdings. Bank shares slipped again amid what Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, called “so-so or mediocre earnings” that triggered “profit-taking and consolidation.” Concerns mounted further due to the credit-card cap proposal. The Dow dropped 42.36 points, ending at 49,149.63. Reuters
Thursday’s figures showed a surprise dip in U.S. weekly jobless claims, dropping to 198,000. Still, economists cautioned that holiday season adjustments might be skewing the data. Reuters
That early boost in Dow-related stocks isn’t guaranteed to hold. Should chip demand weaken or banking policy risks become more defined, investors might shift gears quickly. What’s been a “rotation” trade could morph into outright risk-off selling, turning the Dow’s handful of key drivers from a support into a potential headache.
Investors are turning their attention to upcoming data and the Fed’s January 27-28 policy meeting for clues on interest rates. They’re also keeping an eye on Thursday’s Treasury TIC flows report. Reuters
