NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2026, 10:29 ET
- U.S. stocks opened higher in the first session of 2026, with the Nasdaq leading gains.
- Investors are bracing for key January catalysts, including jobs data, inflation readings and the start of earnings season.
- Tesla reported a second straight annual drop in deliveries, adding pressure to the EV maker as competition intensifies.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, led by gains in the Nasdaq.
Stock futures rose heading into the opening bell after a late-December pullback that left the S&P 500 and Nasdaq under pressure into year-end, according to Investors.com.
Attention is shifting quickly to the January data slate, with the monthly U.S. jobs report due on Jan. 9 and the consumer price index on Jan. 13, alongside the ramp-up to fourth-quarter earnings season, Reuters reported. “The market is looking for direction,” said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. Reuters
In early trading, technology shares led gains, with investors again leaning into artificial intelligence-linked names. Nvidia rose 2.8%, Apple gained 2% and Alphabet added 2%, the Associated Press reported, while Treasury yields held broadly steady and oil prices slipped.
The Wall Street Journal’s live coverage also pointed to a chip-stock rally as trading got underway, with the Nasdaq outpacing other major U.S. indexes.
Overseas, a risk-on tone carried into Europe. London’s FTSE 100 briefly topped 10,000 for the first time, reflecting strength in miners, banks and defense stocks after the index gained nearly 22% in 2025, a Reuters report said.
Tesla was in focus after it said it delivered 418,227 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 15.6% from a year earlier and below analysts’ expectations, Reuters reported. The automaker delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025 versus 1.79 million in 2024, as competition from China’s BYD and European carmakers weighed on demand.
Friday’s early gains come after a choppy finish to 2025. All three major U.S. indexes fell in the year’s final session, though they still posted double-digit gains for 2025, Reuters reported.
Strategists see 2026’s path hinging on whether earnings growth broadens beyond the biggest technology companies, whether the Federal Reserve can keep cutting rates without reigniting inflation, and whether heavy AI spending translates into profits, Reuters reported earlier this week.
Much of last year’s advance was powered by a handful of mega-cap technology stocks often referred to as the “Magnificent Seven,” a shorthand for the market’s largest tech-related firms whose size can sway major indexes.
That concentration has left investors sensitive to signs of weakening demand for chips and data-center gear, as well as any slowdown in corporate spending on AI infrastructure.
