US stocks fall, as investors fret over Trump's Fed nominee, earnings, inflation

US stocks fall, as investors fret over Trump's Fed nominee, earnings, inflation

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Fri January 30, 2026 5:27 AM  

Like yesterday, the indexes were way down during the day but at least the Dow and S&P recovered most of these losses by close. The Dow had reached a low of a minus 600 by 1 pm, the S&P down about 80.  The Nasdaq did not fare nearly as well in a straight downward spiral losing over 330 points by 1 pm.  The simple reason for this was new nerves over the nomination of Powell’s replacement, a hawk who is feared to push for more rate cuts than is healthy and push the already fragile economy into even steeper inflation.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq close down as Big Tech's soaring AI budgets trigger flight

S&P 500, Nasdaq close down as Big Tech's soaring AI budgets trigger flight

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Thu January 29, 2026 7:24 AM  

Tech really took a bath today as, at least for today, investors decided the AI honeymoon was over given a new pessimism over the promise of huge AI expenditures ever turning into profits, especially with Microsoft’s disappointing Q4 report. The losses were far greater earlier in the day than at close with the Dow down almost 400 by 11 a.m., tech going much worse with the Nasdaq losing over 600 in the morning and S&P over 100. 

Nasdaq ends slightly up, S&P 500 flat as Fed brings little surprise

Nasdaq ends slightly up, S&P 500 flat as Fed brings little surprise

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Wed January 28, 2026 4:58 PM  

A completely expected “no change” announcement from the Fed today resulted in very little change to the indexes though tech started quite high in the morning only to immediately decline to near break-even. Even the Dow, though mostly straddling break-even all day, had its moments at times as much as 100 down and 150 up.  The Mag7 was a mixed bag with Microsoft diving after its Q4 report but Meta rising though its positive report came in after close. The good news is that, though the Fed had intended to report that inflation was still too hot and employment still too unstable, they modified their statement that both factors were in better shape than previously thought.  

S&P 500 marks closing record as corporate earnings roll in; Medicare rates hit insurers

S&P 500 marks closing record as corporate earnings roll in; Medicare rates hit insurers

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Tue January 27, 2026 5:00 PM

Tuesday saw a massive flight from industrials as the Dow sank over 400 points and an equally massive migration to tech as Nasdaq gained over 200. Hurting the Dow was a serious hit to healthcare stocks triggered by a White House proposal to raise Medicare premiums. Tech was helped by a deal with Corning getting a $6B contract to supply fiber optic cable to Meta for its AI data centers. The Mag7 companies are reporting in the next 3 days and their earnings will largely determine investor appetite for further investment.  

Wall Street indexes close higher ahead of earnings, Fed meeting

Wall Street indexes close higher ahead of earnings, Fed meeting

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Mon January 26, 2026 5:00 PM

With a slew of megacap earnings coming later this week and increased optimism that the huge investments in AI will soon start translating into profits, all three indexes headed straight up today with 3-digit gains in both tech and industrials. Investors will be looking to see if the continuing concerns over high tech valuations are justified. It’s a fragile equation though. Even a slight setback could cause a big AI selloff. 

Dow ends lower, with S&P flat, as Intel's outlook weighs on risk appetite

Dow ends lower, with S&P flat, as Intel's outlook weighs on risk appetite

By David French

Fri January 23, 2026 4:56 PM

Tech was topsy-turvy and the Dow went straight south as the indexes continue to recover from Tuesday’s huge losses. Today both the Nasdaq and S&P came within a stone’s throw of recouping losses and though the Dow did recoup yesterday by a slim margin, the 285 point loss today put them back into negative territory. Thus, the week remained a loser on all counts, though only slightly so. Tech would have had a better day except for disappointing news from Intel.  

Wall Street ends up as investors buoyed by tariff relief, upbeat data

Wall Street ends up as investors buoyed by tariff relief, upbeat data

By David French

Thu January 22, 2026 4:00 PM

 

For a second day the indexes continued to ride the wave of ebullience after Trump’s U-turn yesterday on Greenland tariffs and starting to buy back the huge losses from Tuesday. Even though the Dow has now completely recovered, both the tech indexes are still a little shy of Monday’s close before the storm set in.  

Wall Street ends higher as investors cheer Greenland framework deal, averted tariffs

Wall Street ends higher as investors cheer Greenland framework deal, averted tariffs

By David French

Wed January 21, 2026 4:52 PM

After yesterday’s enormous selloff, today was a bargain hunter’s dream as all three indexes enjoyed very comfortable gains from the prior session’s huge losses. Then at 11 a.m. began a decline which lasted until 2:30 pm, at which time Trump reversed his position on the Greenland-related tariffs and the market immediately catapulted and closed having recouped a large percentage of Tuesday’s losses.  

Wall Street ends lower amid global selloff on Trump Greenland tariff threats

Wall Street ends lower amid global selloff on Trump Greenland tariff threats

By David French

Tue January 20, 2026 4:00 PM

This would have been a good day for short-sellers and nothing was more predictable. As of last evening, the forecast was for the Dow to dump 600 points due to the Greenland issue. That turned out to be optimistic as there was actually an 870 point loss and we knew there was trouble when the S&P lost 143, so very rare to lose 3-digits. The question: is this just a blip or the beginning of a long-term problem? Coming later this week will be PCE and updated Q3 GDP. There will also be a number of heavyweights coming in with Q4 reports in the next few days. Per the CBOE, trading was brisk at 20.6 billion, considerably above the 16.8 average. 

DJ: 49,359.33  -83.11         NAS: 23,515.39  -14.63          S&P: 6,940.01  -4.46               1/16

DJ: 48,488.59  -870.74       NAS: 22,954.32  -561.06        S&P: 6,796.86  -143.15           1/20

Tue 1-20-26 4:00 pm Wall Street ends lower amid global selloff on Trump Greenland tariff threats | Reuters

Wall Street ends little changed before long weekend

Wall Street ends little changed before long weekend

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Fri January 16, 2026 5:21 PM

 

All three indexes performed more or less flat today as investors sit on the fence as Q4 reporting has just gotten underway. Though the big banks are still turning in solid Q4, the sector remains haunted by the prospect, though considered unlikely to materialize, of the proposed 10% cap on credit card interest. The Dow took a bigger hit than the others as the rotation away from megacaps and into undervalued small caps continues, with the small caps index hitting still another record.  

Wall Street ends higher; banks gain following results, chips rally with TSMC

Wall Street ends higher; banks gain following results, chips rally with TSMC

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Thu January 15, 2026 4:57 PM

All it took today was a little good news from the banks and, once again the chips, to send the indexes way up again. After a few days of lackluster Q4 earnings from the banks, good results came from both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs with upbeat Q4, and chips got their boost from a blockbuster report from Taiwan’s TSMC. The rotation to undervalued small caps continues with “the banks and old-school industrials” as standouts. S&P industrials hit another record high.  

Wall Street ends lower, led by drop in Nasdaq, with tech, banks falling

Wall Street ends lower, led by drop in Nasdaq, with tech, banks falling

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Wed January 14, 2026 6:39 PM

It was a third day of the financial markets dealing with the stunning Trump proposal of a 10% cap on credit card interest with Jamie Dimon and other major bankers arguing that all it will accomplish is denying millions of consumers access to credit at all, and that will do untold damage to the economy. Bank stocks and the banking index fell again. Even Citigroup and BofA fell even though their Q4 beat expectations. Or it could be argued that after an illustrious 2025, investors are simply taking profits out of the bank stocks. All three indexes actually fell dramatically until about noon before recovering most losses by close.  

Wall Street falls with financials amid credit card rate plan concern

Wall Street falls with financials amid credit card rate plan concern

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Tue January 13, 2026 4:46 PM  

Yesterday’s credit card proposal capping interest charges at 10% has thrown the banks for a loop with another big sell off that brought both MasterCard and Visa down about 4% and the overall financial sector down 1.8%. Jamie Dimon chimed in today with a warning that the plan could “severely hurt consumers” and the overall economy while JPMorgan dropped 4.2%.  

S&P 500, Dow hit closing record highs; Walmart, tech climb

S&P 500, Dow hit closing record highs; Walmart, tech climb

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Mon January 12, 2026 4:44 PM  

With the Trump administration threatening to indict Jerome Powell, all three indexes started in the red this morning but with Walmart announcing it will switch from the Dow to Nasdaq this month, all three indexes got a nice little boost with all three closing in the green. Tech did better than the other what with Q4 forecasts for the tech sector being an astounding 26.5% year-on-year. S&P earnings overall are seen climbing some 8.8%.  

S&P 500 notches record high close driven by Broadcom, other chipmakers

S&P 500 notches record high close driven by Broadcom, other chipmakers

By Noel Randewich

Fri January 9, 2026 6:16 PM  

It was a great day overall with both industrials and tech enjoying handsome 3-digit gains as the chip sector sees AI as getting closer to showing tangible results with the index gaining 2.7% to a record high. Industrials got a boost from employment declining more than expected but accompanied by a decline in unemployment suggesting the job market was not declining too rapidly and thus not change rate cut expectations.  

Wall Street ends mixed as tech dips, defense stocks rally

Wall Street ends mixed as tech dips, defense stocks rally

By Purvi Agarwal and Noel Randewich

Thu January 8, 2026 7:10 PM

The Dow headed straight up, the Nasdaq straight down as industrials reacted to a proposed strongly beefed up defense budget and tech, though AI is still hot, still haunted by valuation fears. Trump is proposing hiking the defense budget by at least 50% sending defense stocks way up. New unemployment claims rose modestly and the overall labor demand remains sluggish. All eyes are on tomorrow’s nonfarm payrolls for more hints on Fed rate policy for the coming year. Volume was heavy at 16.9 billion, passing the 16.3 average. 

DJ: 48,996.08  -466.00        NAS: 23,584.28  +37.10       S&P: 6,920.93  -23.89             1/7

DJ: 49,266.11  +270.03       NAS: 23,480.02  -104.26      S&P: 6,921.45  +0.53               1/8

Thu 1-8-26 7:10 pm Wall Street ends mixed as tech dips, defense stocks rally | Reuters

S&P 500 ends lower, AI stocks buoy Nasdaq

S&P 500 ends lower, AI stocks buoy Nasdaq

By Noel Randewich

Wed January 7, 2026 4:31 PM

Tech had a pretty good morning but a lousy afternoon. The Nasdaq was up almost 200 before starting an afternoon tumble and barely breaking even with the S&P in negative digits and the Dow down big. The possible triggers were an anemic jobs report which failed to budge the meter on future rate cuts.  

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures trade flat with jobs data set to test early 2026 rally  --  Yahoo Finance  1/6/26 Tue

It is past midnight and I’m afraid I just got home being out all day and eve on business and pleasure, opportunities that don’t very frequently come my way so I had a day of much enjoyed R&R. I say this only to remind everyone that the daily market reports come out around 4:30 each day but by 8 pm more or less vanish. I was able to find something on Yahoo Finance but it’s never as nearly as complete as my usual source, Reuters. However, the charts did show that, after a brief hiccup in the morning, all three indexes had a surge after 11 a.m. with 3-digit gains all around and another especially huge gain on the Dow.  This was explained in the Yahoo report as being triggered by investors more or less ignoring the geopolitical concerns raised by Venezuela and holding on to hopes that the labor reports due later this week will provide the wanted justification for more rate cuts. I am able to provide the closing numbers below as usual and, per the CBOE, volume coming in once again at a whopping 19.2 billion vs the 15.9 billion average. DJ:          48,977.18  +594.79                 NAS:       23,395.82  +160.19                 S&P:       6,902.05  +43.58                     1/5    DJ:          49,462.08  +484.90                 NAS:       23,547.17  +151.35                 S&P:       6,944.82  +42.77                     1/6  (Okay, now I know why I never use Yahoo Finance.  The formatting is always so f'd up!)

Now I remember why I never use Yahoo Finance.  Their formatting is always all f'd up!  

Dow hits record, energy stocks end higher after US strikes Venezuela

Dow hits record, energy stocks end higher after US strikes Venezuela

By Noel Randewich

Mon January 5, 2026 5:09 PM  

For the first day of the first trading week of the new year investors reacted with great enthusiasm to this past weekend’s military operation in Venezuela as giving U.S. oil producers access to the world’s largest oil reserves. The energy index jumped a whopping 2.7% as major players Exxon Mobil and Chevron both surged. Obviously the whole defense sector got a major boost as well with the defense index reaching a record high. The banks are also very much back in favor too as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase also hit records with investors now seeing financials as an attractive alternative to tech.  

Dow closes higher on first day of 2026, still no Santa Claus rally

Dow closes higher on first day of 2026, still no Santa Claus rally

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Nikhil Sharma

Fri January 2, 2026 4:33 PM  

Tech started well in the black this morning but then began an almost immediate pullback spending most of the rest of the session modestly in the red. Industrials on the other hand started in the red and quickly catapulted into the black, the Dow closing with a handsome 3-digit gain while the other two basically just broke even. The Santa Claus Rally has more or less been declared dead after having a first few very good days, But uncertainty over the economy and the future of AI put a damper on it this year, though ironically today in particular was a very good day for AI, chips being up 4%.