NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 11:55 ET — Market closed
- The Dow rose 0.66% and the S&P 500 gained 0.19% on Friday, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.03%.
- Semiconductor and industrial shares led gains, while Tesla fell after weak annual deliveries and a tougher EV market.
- Investors’ next focus is Jan. 9 U.S. jobs data, Jan. 13 inflation, and the start of big-bank earnings season.
The Dow rose 319.10 points, or 0.66%, to 48,382.39 on Friday and the S&P 500 added 0.19% to 6,858.47, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.03% to 23,235.63, as Wall Street opened 2026 with gains in chipmakers and industrials. Joe Mazzola, head of trading and derivatives strategy at Charles Schwab, said investors have adopted a “buy the dip, sell the rip” mentality. Reuters
The first session of the year offered an early test of risk appetite after a holiday-thin stretch that left markets searching for direction.
Investors are weighing whether a still-resilient U.S. economy can support stocks near record levels even as policy uncertainty and rate expectations remain in flux.
Chip stocks led the advance, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index up 4%. Boeing and Caterpillar climbed about 5% each, helping lift the Dow.
Big tech lagged and capped gains in the broader market. Apple and Microsoft fell, and consumer discretionary names including Amazon also declined.
Tesla slid 2.6% to close at $438.07 after trading above $458 earlier in the session.
Tesla said fourth-quarter deliveries — its closest reported read on vehicle sales — fell 15.6% to 418,227 vehicles and 2025 deliveries slipped about 8.6% to 1.64 million, below year-ago levels. The company ceded its title as the world’s top electric-vehicle (EV) seller to China’s BYD after the U.S. $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended in September, and J.D. Power data showed EVs accounted for 6.2% of U.S. retail vehicle sales in the quarter while average transaction prices rose to about $53,300. Tesla also said it deployed a record 14.2 gigawatt-hours of energy storage — a measure of battery capacity — and it is set to report quarterly results on Jan. 28.
In Europe, Tesla’s December registrations — a proxy for sales — fell sharply in several markets, including a 66% drop in France and a 71% decline in Sweden, even as they jumped 89% in Norway. ACEA data showed Tesla’s market share across Europe, Britain and the European Free Trade Association slipped to 1.7% through November from 2.4% a year earlier.
Rivian, another U.S. EV maker, also flagged demand pressure, saying 2025 deliveries fell 18% to 42,247 vehicles, slightly below expectations compiled by Visible Alpha. Rivian said it will release fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results on Feb. 12, after markets close.
Before the next session, investors will turn to a heavy U.S. calendar, led by the monthly employment report due Jan. 9 and the consumer price index on Jan. 13. A Reuters poll forecasts December payroll growth of 55,000 and an unemployment rate of 4.6%, while fourth-quarter earnings season begins in earnest with JPMorgan set to report on Jan. 13; Fed funds futures show markets pricing limited odds of a rate cut at the Fed’s late-January meeting but higher odds by March.
Those releases matter for equity valuations because softer data can reinforce expectations for lower rates, which tends to lift long-duration growth stocks, while hotter inflation can do the opposite.
For traders, Friday’s levels are now in focus: the S&P 500’s first close of 2026 near 6,858 leaves little room for disappointment, while Tesla’s $435 intraday low and the $450 area mark near-term chart points heading into its Jan. 28 results.
