New York, Jan 6, 2026, 14:43 ET — Regular session
- Mastercard shares rose about 2% in afternoon trading, beating the broader market.
- The company said QNB won a Mastercard license to expand card issuing and merchant acquiring in Syria.
- Investors are watching Jan. 9 U.S. payrolls data amid renewed scrutiny of card-fee litigation.
Mastercard Incorporated shares rose about 2% to $580.03 in afternoon trading on Tuesday, outpacing the broader market. Visa added about 1% and American Express gained about 1.1%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was up about 0.6%. Mastercard traded between $567.88 and $581.00.
The payments group has moved with a wider U.S. equity rally as investors position for this week’s key economic data, especially the jobs report. That print can shift rate expectations, which in turn can sway spending-sensitive names like card networks. 1
Mastercard also had fresh company news in the background. It said on Monday that QNB Group was granted a Mastercard license to extend card issuing and merchant acquiring — the plumbing that puts cards in wallets and lets shops accept them — in Syria. “We are deepening our commitment to Syria as early investors in a market undergoing meaningful transformation,” Adam Jones, division president for West Arabia at Mastercard, said. 2
In the United States, the stock still carries a legal overhang tied to interchange fees, the charges merchants pay on card transactions. Consumer Reports and other advocacy groups objected to a proposed Visa-Mastercard settlement, arguing the changes were too small and could be undermined; the proposal would trim credit interchange rates by 0.1 percentage point for five years and cap standard consumer rates at 1.25% for eight years, Payments Dive reported. 3
Investors also have a dividend date on the calendar. Mastercard’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 87 cents per share, payable on Feb. 9 to shareholders of record on Jan. 9, according to the company’s dividend history. 4
But the stock’s strength can fade quickly if economic data rekindles fears that rates stay higher for longer, tightening credit and cooling demand. A tougher court outcome or a prolonged fight over interchange rules could also raise uncertainty around how fees are set and shared across the payments chain.
Next up is Friday’s U.S. Employment Situation report for December 2025 at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the Consumer Price Index for December 2025 on Jan. 13. Investors will use both releases to recalibrate rate bets that can drive the tone for Mastercard and its peers. 5
