NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 12:40 PM EST — Regular session
Home Depot shares rose about 4% in midday trading on Friday as investors bought housing-linked names after President Donald Trump ordered mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities, bonds backed by pools of home loans. The stock was up 4.1% at $374.25. Redfin economist Chen Zhao called the plan’s impact “fairly small” and pegged any drop in mortgage rates at 10 to 15 basis points, or 0.10 to 0.15 percentage point. Reuters
The stock is sensitive to the same forces pressuring the housing market. When mortgage rates ease, home sales can pick up and homeowners tend to spend more on upgrades. When rates stay high, people sit tight.
Home Depot has said demand for do-it-yourself projects and big-ticket categories has been uneven, with higher borrowing costs and home prices weighing on activity. In December, it forecast fiscal 2026 comparable sales growth of flat to 2% and adjusted earnings per share growth of flat to 4%.
Home Depot’s rival Lowe’s was up 3.7%, while the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF gained about 4.6%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up about 0.7%.
Mortgage News Daily’s rate survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 5.99% on Friday.
For now, investors are trading the idea that policy can nudge financing costs lower, even if the path is messy. Home Depot sits in the middle of that bet.
The risk is that a modest drop in rates does not quickly translate into more transactions or more renovation work. Big projects have been the first to get delayed when households turn cautious.
Next up is Home Depot’s quarterly report: it is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. ET, with investors focused on comparable sales, margins and any update on 2026 expectations.
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