NEW YORK, Jan 12, 2026, 17:38 EST
- S&P 500 and Dow closed at record highs; Nasdaq also ended higher
- Walmart gained 3% as banks and card-linked stocks fell on Trump’s 10% rate-cap push
- Gold topped $4,600 an ounce as investors weighed Fed independence risk ahead of CPI and earnings
U.S. stocks closed at record highs on Monday, with Walmart and tech shares helping the S&P 500 and Dow finish in the green despite fresh anxiety over a Justice Department probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “The market is taking it in stride for now,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, even as bank and credit-card names slid on new policy talk. Reuters
The late lift came after a choppy stretch that saw stocks, bonds and the dollar bounce from session lows, but traders stayed wary about political pressure bleeding into monetary policy. That tension is landing just as investors brace for inflation data and the start of a big earnings run. Bloomberg
The rally has not needed much good news lately, but it has needed the bad news to stay contained. Powell is at the center of that test, and markets are still trying to figure out whether this becomes noise or something worse.
The Dow rose 86.13 points, or 0.17%, to 49,590.20. The S&P 500 added 10.99 points, or 0.16%, to 6,977.27, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 62.56 points, or 0.26%, to 23,733.90.
Walmart jumped 3% a month after shifting its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq. It is due to join the Nasdaq-100 — an index of the biggest non-financial names on the Nasdaq — on Jan. 20, a move that can force passive funds that track the benchmark to buy.
Financials were the worst-performing S&P sector, down 0.8%. Citigroup slid 3%, American Express dropped 4.3% and Capital One fell 6.4% after President Donald Trump called for a one-year cap on credit-card interest rates at 10% starting Jan. 20; buy-now-pay-later firm Affirm fell 6.6%.
Consumer staples led the gainers, lifted by Walmart, and tech also edged up. U.S. share volume ran above recent averages as investors shifted positions rather than chase the move.
Powell said the Fed received subpoenas from the Justice Department tied to comments to Congress about cost overruns on a $2.5 billion building-renovation project. In a video response, he warned monetary policy could be steered by “political pressure or intimidation,” and Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, said efforts to weaken the Fed could “undermine the dollar” and Treasuries. Schwab
Gold hit a record above $4,600 an ounce on Monday as investors reached for havens. Spot gold was up 2.2% at $4,609.58 after touching $4,629.94, and February futures settled at $4,614.70; “elevated uncertainty” keeps feeding demand, Societe Generale’s Michael Haigh said, while silver hit a record $86.22. Reuters
The dollar also slipped, with the dollar index down 0.37% to 98.87. “This just ended the dollar’s New Year bounce,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, after Powell disclosed the subpoenas; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump did not direct Justice Department officials to investigate. Reuters
Oil climbed and settled at seven-week highs on worries Iran’s exports could decline as it cracks down on protests, though traders also watched for supplies to rise from Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro’s ouster. Brent futures rose 53 cents to settle at $63.87 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 38 cents to $59.50. Reuters
Tech had its own headline: Alphabet briefly touched a $4 trillion market value after Google said Apple’s next AI models will run on its Gemini system under a multi-year deal. “It’s the one name that has surprised us,” said Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management; Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple have also hit the $4 trillion mark. Reuters
Next up is Tuesday’s December consumer price index and the first wave of big-bank results, including JPMorgan and other large lenders. Traders are still pricing at least two quarter-point rate cuts (each 0.25 percentage point) by year-end, though rate futures now imply the first move is more likely around June; analysts expect tech to lead fourth-quarter S&P 500 profit growth.
But the calm tone in stocks is a choice, not a law. A hotter CPI print, a deeper hit to lenders if the rate-cap idea gains traction, or a broader legal fight around Powell could quickly change the trade.
