Opening Comment — Friday, January 16, 2026
DJIA: 49,442.44, up 292.81
S&P 500: 6,944.47, up 17.87
NASDAQ: 23,530.02, up 58.27
Stocks higher to end out week
Stock futures are mostly higher Friday morning ahead of today’s release of December industrial production data and January’s gauge of homebuilder sentiment. As of 7:24 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is up 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Thursday as both initial and continuing jobless claims fell. Meanwhile, import prices unexpectedly increased in November, rising by 0.1% year-over-year (YOY), while export prices climbed by 3.3% YOY. The Dow was up 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%. The S&P 500 increased 0.3% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Utilities sector was the top performer, rising 1.0%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
Technical analysis
As of midday Thursday, the S&P 500 Index is still in an uptrend, with support at the 50-day and 200-day moving averages (6827 and 6349, respectively) and potentially slight technical resistance at 7,000.
On the data front, the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York will release their Business Leaders Survey for January. Industrial production is forecasted to have increased 0.1% month-over-month (MOM) in December versus the prior month’s 0.2% increase, while capacity utilization is forecasted to remain steady at 76.0%. The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index is forecasted to increase to 40 for January from the prior month’s 39.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as Germany’s finalized December Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained unchanged from the prior reading, showing little change MOM and rising 1.8% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed following the finalization of a trade deal between the U.S. and Taiwan.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of today’s U.S. industrial production data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.3% higher at $59.97/barrel amidst easing U.S.–Iran tensions.
In the metals complex, gold is little changed at $4,614.46/ounce.