Benchmark indices on Wall Street continued their strong start to the new year with another day of gains. All three sessions so far in the year have seen the indices notch significant gains led by participation across the board.
The Dow Jones gained nearly 500 points to close above the record 49,000 mark for the first time. The index has gained nearly 1,500 points in the three sessions of 2026 so far. The S&P 500 also gained 0.6% to close at a record high near the 6,950 mark, while the Nasdaq notched gains worth 0.6% as well, but remains 500 points away from a record high of its own.
Nvidia Corp. shares fell despite the company stating that the $500 billion revenue outlook from current and future AI and data center chips by end of 2026 has brightened further as they are seeing strong Chinese customer demand for its H200 AI chips, which it can now export to the country. The fall in chip stocks kept the Nasdaq gains in check.
Services PMI for December remained in expansion mode but grew at the weakest pace since April last year. The December reading stood at 52.5 from 54.1 in the month of November. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The reading did not significantly alter any rate cut hopes from the Federal Reserve with over 80% participants still working with a status quo policy towards the end of this month, as per the CME FedWatch.
A Bloomberg Market Pulse Survey of 590 respondents shows 60% of the respondents believing that the S&P 500 will gain between 10% to 20% this year, which would be the fourth straight year of double digit returns, a feat last seen between 1995-1999. Majority of the respondents also expect the US Dollar weakness to continue and Nvidia to emerge as the best performing asset of the year, even outperforming Gold, and other metals.
The rally in precious metals continued with Gold prices back at the $4,500 an ounce mark, while Silver is back above $80 an ounce. Crude oil prices gave up all the minor gains seen post the US invasion of Venezuela with Brent returning to the $60 a barrel mark.
A slew of macro data starts to trickle in from today, with the ADP private payroll figures, job openings statistics and factory orders scheduled to be reported.