How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 1/2/2026

Audio By Carbonatix

U,S. stocks wavered as Wall Street had a wobbly start to the new year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Friday, coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025. The Dow rose 319 points, or 0.7%, but the Nasdaq was roughly flat, weighed down by losses for Microsoft and Tesla. Foreign markets fared better and benchmarks in Britain and South Korea hit records.

Wall Street’s big focus remains on the technology sector and the expanding use of artificial intelligence. The sector and companies with outsized valuations were the key forces behind the broader market’s up-and-down moves.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 rose 12.97 points, or 0.2%, to 6,858.47.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 319.10 points, or 0.7%, to 48,382.39.

The Nasdaq composite fell 6.36 points, or less than 0.1%, to 23,235.63.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 26.32 points, or 1.1%, to 2,508.22.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is down 71.47 points, or 1%.

The Dow is down 328.58 points, or 0.7%.

The Nasdaq is down 357.47 points, or 1.5%.

The Russell 2000 is down 26.12 points, or 1%.