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Rian Howlett , Karen Friar and Ines Ferré
Updated 2 min read
US stocks rose to all-time highs on Friday as investors assessed the December jobs report to end a jam-packed first full trading week of 2026.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.6%, notching a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose around 0.5% to also post an all-time high close. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) jumped 0.8%, marking a winning week for all three major averages.
Markets on Friday were focused on two potential catalysts: the December jobs report and the chance of a decision from the Supreme Court on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The nonfarm payrolls report, which returned to its normal cadence following disruptions from the government shutdown, showed the US added 50,000 jobs in December. Payroll growth fell short of economists’ expectations of about 70,000 positions added, sealing bets that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on interest rates in less than three weeks.
The unemployment rate declined to 4.4%, from 4.6% in November, carrying 2025’s labor market theme of a “no-hire, no-fire” economy through the end of the year.
Wall Street was also on alert for a tariffs ruling from the Supreme Court, which could carry huge implications for US economic strategy if the levies are found to be unlawful. Friday came and went without a decision. The court indicated its next opinion day would come Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Meanwhile, investors are weighing the latest developments in the US moves on Venezuela. Trump said he has canceled a second wave of attacks in the country, citing cooperation over US plans to rebuild its crumbling energy infrastructure. The White House has called a meeting with global oil majors on Friday to discuss the fate of Venezuela’s huge reserves.
On the home front, Trump said he has directed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities, in a bid to lower mortgage rates and address growing affordability concerns. Markets are assessing the potential fallout, given details around that plan remain unclear.
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Stocks closed at record highs on Friday to cap an eventful first week of trading of 2026.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.6% to close at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained around 0.5%, also posting a record. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) jumped 0.8% as semiconductor stocks rallied.
The latest employment report showed fewer jobs created in December than expected, but the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4%.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court did not issue a ruling on Friday about President Trump’s sweeping tariff policy. A ruling could come in by Jan. 14, the next time it issues opinions.
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In a meeting with oil industry leaders at the White House on Friday, President Trump said the US industry will be “spending at least $100 billion of their own money … to rebuild the capacity and the infrastructure necessary” for Venezuela to begin once more exporting large volumes of crude — and that China and Russia would be welcome to purchase the barrels.
The meeting comes as the administration has leaned on the US oil industry to reenter Venezuela and begin rebuilding infrastructure to export oil after the capture and extraction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The meeting included leaders from companies ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Valero Energy (VLO), and other key US oil players. Trump said with the US industry’s investments, exports out of Venezuela would reach “levels never ever seen before.”
Before the US blockaded sanctioned oil tankers, the country’s exports had fallen to less than 1 million barrels per day after reaching highs of more than 3 million barrels per day around the turn of the century.
According to figures widely cited throughout the media and the oil industry itself, Venezuela is sitting on around 300 billion barrels’ worth of “proved” oil, meaning barrels that have, in theory, been confirmed as commercially viable by conclusive testing or actual production.
But Venezuela, once the strongest oil-producing nation in the world by volume, has seen its industry crumble under the leadership of Hugo Chavez and Maduro, especially following Chavez’s total nationalization of the industry under PDVSA.
Corruption, mismanagement, brain drain, and a lack of repair and upkeep work on critical infrastructure, including throughout Venezuela’s flagship Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, have made operating without significant investment nearly impossible, several analysts told Yahoo Finance.
All US companies left the country when the industry was nationalized — with the exception of Chevron, which has remained operational under permission from the US Treasury Department.
During his comments, Trump — who has insisted that the US is fully in control of Venezuela’s oil industry — said the US will be “making the decision on which companies we’re going to allow to go in.”
And in Venezuela, Trump said, oil companies would be “dealing with us directly, you’re not going to be dealing with Venezuela at all,” and that those energy operators would have “total safety, total security” in the country.
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Strategists at PNB Paribas believe the unemployment rate of 4.4% in December, released this morning, may test their call for a March rate cut.
“With the unemployment rate declining and being revised down for November, concerns about a rapid accumulation of labor slack should diminish at the Fed.,” wrote the analysts on Friday.
However, the researchers said upcoming data “will likely be ambiguous enough” to keep the possibility of a March cut in play.
Friday’s jobs report has most traders betting that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged when policymakers meet later this month.
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Gold (GC=F) and silver (SI=F) were on track for a weekly win on Friday, despite some volatile sessions.
Gold rose 1% to hover above $4,500 while silver soared 7%.
Both metals initially rallied following the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, though price action has been choppy in the days since.
Despite the swings, gold is up more than 4% over the past five days, and silver has surged roughly 12%.
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Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:
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Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
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Chip stocks were broadly higher midday Friday following a slew of tech announcements at CES in Las Vegas and as President Trump reemphasized his commitment to “bring leading edge Chip Manufacturing back to America” in a post on Truth Social.
Broadcom (AVGO) jumped 3.6%, while Micron (MU) shares rose 3.7%, and Intel (INTC) climbed 7%. Qualcomm, meanwhile, fell 2% after rallying earlier in the week.
Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom were still set for weekly losses of 2% and 1%, respectively. Meanwhile Micron, Intel and Qualcomm (QCOM) were set to gain 7%, 12%, and 3%, respectively.
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Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports:
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Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:
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Intel (INTC) shares soared again on Friday, rising more than 8% after President Trump praised CEO Lip-Bu Tan on his social media platform.
“I just finished a great meeting with the very successful Intel CEO, Lip-Bu Tan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday after the market close. “The United States Government is proud to be a Shareholder of Intel…We made a GREAT Deal, and so did Intel.”
The US government took a roughly 10% stake in Intel, the only US-based large scale, leading edge chip manufacturer in August.
Trump had briefly sparred with Tan this summer, calling for his resignation on social media due to his business ties to China, but the president reversed his stance after an apparently successful meeting with the executive.
Though the investment from the US government has been a positive catalyst for Intel shares, some experts criticize the national security and ethical implication of the federal government’s growing entanglement with corporate America.
Trump continued on Friday: “Our Country is determined to bring leading edge Chip Manufacturing back to America, and that is exactly what is happening!!!”
Intel stock surged earlier this week following the chipmaker’s official release of its Core Ultra Series 3 chips at CES in Las Vegas.
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Oklo (OKLO) shares jumped more than 13% Friday as small nuclear reactor maker — formerly chaired by OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) CEO Sam Altman — inked its first major commercial deal with Meta (META).
Oklo has agreed to supply Meta with 1.2 gigawatts of power from its yet-to-be-built small modular reactors in Ohio. Oklo is still in the process of obtaining a license from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“Meta’s funding commitment in support of early procurement and development activity is a major step in moving advanced nuclear forward,” said Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte in a statement Friday.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote: “We believe this news is incrementally positive for the entire nuclear energy industry, including OKLO, as it reaffirms the commitment from hyperscalers to start leveraging new energy sources to fuel the AI Revolution with power being the biggest headwind to the industry.”
Meta also on Friday announced deals with nuclear energy providers Vistra (VST) and TerraPower (founded by Bill Gates). Vistra shares soared nearly 14%, while Meta climbed fractionally.
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US stocks tilted mostly higher on Friday at the market open as investors digested the December jobs report and looked to a potential Supreme Court decision on President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved nearly 0.2% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.3% after a mixed session on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was roughly flat.
All three major indexes are on track to close out the first full trading week of 2026 at least 1% higher.
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Stock futures and Treasurys were little changed following the closely watched December jobs report, which showed fewer jobs added than expected but also that the unemployment rate ticked lower.
Futures for the S&P 500 (ES=F), Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) drifted slightly higher to trade above 0.3% following the Labor Department’s release.
The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) was flat at 4.18%, while the 30-year yield (^TYX) inched lower to 4.84%.
Bets that the Federal Reserve would hold interest rates steady at its meeting on Jan. 27-28 increased following the report. Traders are now pricing in a 97% chance of no rate cuts, up from 88% on Thursday, according to CMEGroup’s FedWatch.
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The US unemployment rate dipped to 4.4% in December from 4.5% in the previous month and was below the 4.5% expected by economists tracked by Bloomberg, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation report Friday.
At the same time, the US economy added fewer jobs than expected during the last month of 2025, posting an uptick of 50,000 jobs, below the 70,000 expected by economists and 56,000 in November.
Initial data from November showed the unemployment reaching 4.6%, its highest level in more than four years. That figure was revised down to 4.5% on Friday. The November report had also shown the economy adding 64,000 jobs during that month, but that number was lowered to 56,000 in Friday’s release.
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Here’s a look at some trending stocks ahead of the opening bell:
Opendoor (OPEN), Rocket Companies (RKT): Shares of the home ibuyer and mortgage company rose 9% and 5%, respectively, after President Trump posted on social media Thursday, instructing his “representatives” to buy $200 million in mortgage bonds, aimed at bringing down housing costs.
General Motors (GM): The automaker’s stock dropped nearly 2% after the company said in a Thursday SEC filing it would take an additional $6 billion charge related to its EV business. The news came after GM reported another strong year of overall sales, but the loss of EV tax credits and softer demand for electric cars hampered that segment in 2025.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): The drugmaker said Thursday it struck a deal with the Trump administration to lower drug prices in exchange for tariff relief. As part of the deal, Johnson & Johnson said it will participate in the TrumpRx.gov discount drug platform. The company also expects to increase its investments in US manufacturing in 2026. The stock was flat on Friday morning.
Vistra (VST), Oklo (OKLO): The nuclear energy companies soared 16% and 18%, respectively, after they reached a deal with Meta (META) to provide power for the tech giant’s data centers. Scroll down to read more about the deal from my colleague, Karen Friar.
Alibaba (BABA): US-listed shares of the Chinese internet company jumped as much as 4.8% but then fell 2.5% in premarket trading after reports surfaced that China would allow the import of some of Nvidia’s (NVDA) H200 AI chips. Alibaba has spent profusely on AI models, and Nvidia’s chips would help it build its models to compete with US firms like OpenAI (OPAI.PVT); however, some on Wall Street have argued that this spending could drag on profitability at a time when its e-commerce business may be softening.
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Revolution Medicines (RVMD) stock rose 14% in Friday’s premarket, on the heels of a Financial Times report that the cancer drugmaker is in talks to be acquired by US pharma giant Merck (MRK).
The FT reports:
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Shares of Vistra (VST) and Oklo (OKLO) surged before the bell after Meta (META) struck deals with the nuclear energy companies to fuel its AI data center build-out.
Vistra jumped around 14%, while Oklo soared about 18% on news of Meta’s electricity deal spree, which will make it the biggest buyer of nuclear power among its hyperscaler peers.
Bloomberg reports:
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Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes:
Read more here in the takeaway from today’s Morning Brief.
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President Trump said on Friday that he has “cancelled” plans for a second wave of attacks on Venezuela, crediting cooperation by the country’s interim government for the move.
In a social media post, Trump pointed to the release of several “political prisoners” by the authorities that replaced the regime of President Maduro, captured last week by a US military raid in Caracas. He also noted progress on plans to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure to be controlled by the US.
“The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”
Trump said at least $100 billion will be invested by oil majors in the Venezuela rebuilding, though questions are emerging as to the implications for US energy companies and crude prices.
Oil prices pared gains as investors weighed Trump’s comments and unrest in Iran, against a backdrop of a looming glut. Brent (BZ=F) briefly dipped below $62 a barrel after its biggest gain since October a day earlier, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) also retraced some gains.
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The December nonfarm-payrolls report lands on Friday, as markets try to make sense of a cooling labor market that has flashed some mixed signals this week.
Yahoo Finance’s Emma Ockerman reports:
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