Home Market Insight US stocks are little changed ahead of a long weekend

US stocks are little changed ahead of a long weekend

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US stocks are little changed ahead of a long weekend

US stocks ended nearly flat on Friday in a mixed session ahead of a long weekend, and all three major indexes posted losses for the week as the fourth-quarter earnings season begins.

Healthcare fell 0.8% and led the S&P 500 sectors to decline for the day. Shares of chipmakers rose, with the semiconductors index up 1.2% and extending gains from Thursday.

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On 17 January 2026, 02:30 AM IST

S&P 500 Top Gainers

Super Micro Computer32.64(10.94%)
Micron Technology362.75(7.76%)
Moderna41.83(6.28%)
GE Vernovais 681.55(6.12%)

profiteers»

S&P 500 Top Losers

Stellar energy307.71(-9.82%)
clothing166.60(-7.54%)
Amcor40.94(-7.29%)
Waste Pharmaceutical Servs259.79(-7.02%)

losers»

Major US banks posted mostly solid results this week as the S&P 500 reporting period got underway. Still, concerns over US President Donald Trump’s proposed one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10% have weighed on shares of banks and other financial institutions. The S&P 500 financial sector rose 0.1% on Friday but posted its biggest weekly percentage drop since October.

Investors also digested news that Trump said he wanted to keep economic adviser Kevin Hassett in his current role, dampening market bets that Hassett would replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

“With the S&P 500 still within striking distance of 7,000 to end the week flat — most investors will take that as a two-week win on the year,” said Anthony Saglimben, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial.

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      “One of the other reasons the markets are flat-lining is that we’re at the beginning of the earnings season,” he said. “Bank earnings generally reflect a favorable economic and business backdrop. Now we’re going to start looking at other companies linked to other sectors, and that will give us a better take on fundamentals.”

      The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.11 points, or 0.17%, to 49,359.33, the S&P 500 lost 4.46 points, or 0.06%, to 6,940.01 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 14,600 points, or 0.06%. 23,515.39.

      For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.38%, the Nasdaq was down 0.66% and the Dow was down 0.29%.

      Earnings season picks up next week with reports from heavyweights including Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Intel.

      Investors were also wary of making big bets ahead of the long weekend, with the stock market closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

      While stocks have mostly traded in relatively tight ranges in recent sessions, some options market participants expect sharper price action in the coming days after Friday’s monthly options close.

      “Historically the middle of January is pretty spectacular,” said Bruce Zarrow, managing director of Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

      “Once we work our way through that, then we may see a little bit of better performance towards the end of the month. Hopefully, we’ll find a positive for the month,” ⁠which could indicate a positive performance for the year, Zaro said.

      The week saw money move from some heavyweight tech names into more undervalued territory, with mid- and small-cap stocks outperforming the benchmark S&P 500.

      The small-cap Russell 2000 hit another record closing high on Friday and rose 2.04% for the week.

      Most major S&P 500 sectors also ended the week with gains, with real estate, consumer staples and industrials leading the weekly gains.

      Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 423 new highs and 64 new lows on the NYSE.

      On the Nasdaq, 2,034 stocks advanced and 2,719 declined as decliners outnumbered advancers by a 1.34-to-1 ratio.

      Volume on US exchanges was 18.77 billion shares compared to the full session average of 16.85 billion over the past 20 trading days. (Reporting by Caroline Veletkevich; Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguly, Maju Samuel and David Gregorio)

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