NEW YORK, January 4, 2026, 06:15 ET — Market closed.
- Opendoor shares rose in the first U.S. trading session of 2026, a period that can see exaggerated moves as liquidity returns after the holidays.
- Housing-linked stocks remain sensitive to interest-rate expectations, with mortgage rates still elevated by recent standards.
- Investors are watching a packed U.S. economic calendar this week and Opendoor’s next quarterly update later in February.
Opendoor Technologies Inc (OPEN.O) shares ended Friday up about 4% at $6.07, after trading between $5.86 and $6.15 on roughly 38.4 million shares.
The move matters because Opendoor sits at the intersection of housing demand and interest rates. When borrowing costs rise, affordability falls and homes can take longer to sell, which pressures companies that buy and resell homes for profit.
U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday and Treasury yields moved higher, a backdrop that can quickly change the tone for rate-sensitive names. “Today is kind of a holiday trading day, lighter volumes, people not engaged normally,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital in St. Louis. 1
Mortgage rates remain a key swing factor for the sector. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.15% as of Dec. 31. 2
Opendoor runs an online platform for residential real-estate transactions and is best known for “iBuying” — buying homes directly from sellers and reselling them to buyers — alongside a more capital-light marketplace and listing products. 3
In a Dec. 15 update, the company said it hired Coinbase Canada chief executive Lucas Matheson as president and named Christy Schwartz as chief financial officer effective Jan. 1.
Short positioning remains a factor for traders. Short interest — shares borrowed and sold by investors betting the stock will fall — stood at about 116.6 million shares as of Dec. 15, or roughly 15% of the float, MarketBeat data showed. 4
That matters because heavily shorted stocks can move sharply when prices rise and short sellers rush to buy back shares to limit losses, a dynamic traders call a “short squeeze.”
Investors often group Opendoor with other housing-linked names such as Offerpad and Redfin, where sentiment can turn quickly as rates move and liquidity ebbs. The group’s direction can hinge less on company headlines and more on shifts in the rate outlook.
On the macro side, markets are watching the Federal Reserve’s next steps after a volatile 2025. Markets expect two Fed rate cuts in 2026, Reuters reported Friday, a view that can shift quickly as new data arrives. 5
The week ahead brings multiple potential catalysts, including ISM manufacturing and services surveys, ADP private payrolls, weekly jobless claims and the government’s December jobs report on Friday, Investopedia reported. 6
For Opendoor, the near-term test is whether Friday’s bounce holds as traders digest that data and reposition in the first full week of the year. Moves in Treasury yields and mortgage-rate headlines often set the tone before company-specific news does.
