U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday after two straight sessions of losses, as tech and bank stocks rallied following some robust quarterly results. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) jumped 0.6% or 292.81 points, to close at 49,442.44 points.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, or 17.87 points, to end at 6,944.47 points. Utilities, financials, industrials and technology stocks were the biggest gainers.
The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 0.4%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 1%, while the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) climbed 0.9%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 0.5%. Eight of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.3%, or 58.27 points, to finish at 23,530.02 points.
The fear gauge, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was down 5.43% to 15.84. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.92-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.26-1 ratio favored advancing issues. A total of 19.12 billion shares were traded on Thursday, higher than the last 20-session average of 16.81 billion.
On the Nasdaq, there were 2,683 new 52-week highs and 2,137 new lows. On the NYSE, there were 759 new 52-week highs and 55 new lows.
Chip, Bank Stocks Lead Rally
Chip and bank stocks rebounded on Thursday after suffering in the previous two sessions. Thursday’s gains were led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) after the chipmaker reported blowout earnings. The company also announced that it plans to increase capital spending in the United States between $52 billion and $56 billion in 2026.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor jumped 4.4%. Taiwan Semiconductor has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other chip stocks also rallied after that. Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) gained 2.1%, while Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) ended 1% higher.
Financial stocks also rallied after some big banks reported robust quarterly results. Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) rose 4.6% after the company reported solid fourth-quarter earnings of $14.01 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.77 per share.
Morgan Stanley (MS) also posted an earnings beat. The company reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $2.68 per share, easily outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.41 per share.
Meanwhile, energy stocks slid on Thursday, as oil prices fell, with both the West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Brent crude both declining over 4%.
Economic Data
In economic data released on Thursday, the Labor Department said that jobless claims totaled 198,000 for the week ending Jan. 10, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 207,000. The four-week moving average was 205,000, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 211,500.
Continuing claims came in at 1,884,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,903,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,889,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,889,500.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report Morgan Stanley (MS): Free Stock Analysis Report Micron Technology, Inc. (MU): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
