Stock Market News for Jan 12, 2026

U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting new all-time closing highs following the release of a positive jobs report that lifted investors’ sentiment. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.5% or 237.96 points, to finish at 49,504.07 points.  

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to close at 6,966.28 points. Tech, materials, utilities and consumer discretionary stocks were the biggest gainers.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) also rose 1.2%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) gained 1.6%. Nine of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.8% to end at 23,671.35 points.

The fear gauge, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was down 2.75% to 14.49. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the S&P 500 by a 1.3-to-1 ratio. A total of 17 billion shares were traded on Friday, higher than the last 20-session average of 16.4 billion.

On the Nasdaq, there were 140 new 52-week highs and 62 new lows. On the S&P 500, there were 48 new 52-week highs and six new lows.

The Labor Department reported on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased 50,000 in December, missing analysts’ expectations of a rise of 73,000. However, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4% in December from 4.5% in the prior month.

A decline in the unemployment rate and a marginal decline in job additions reinstated investors’ hopes that the economy is still managing to do well and will eventually gain strength.

The nonfarm payrolls data follows the releases of the JOLTS and ADP jobs reports, which also came in weaker than expected. However, despite the initial softness, investors appear to believe that the job market has shrunk but is still holding steady and will eventually recover over time.  

Semiconductor stocks continued their rally on Friday, with shares of Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) jumping 8.7%, while Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) rose 3.8%. Lam Research has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Also, homebuilder stocks rose on Friday after President Donald Trump directed his representatives to buy mortgage bonds worth $200 billion to bring down home prices.

This saw the Philadelphia Housing index climb 5.7% to its highest since October. Shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (DHI) jumped 7.4%, while Lennar Corporation (LEN) surged 13.9%.