Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City on December 30, 2025.
Spencer Platt getty images
S&P 500 2026 gained momentum on Friday, its first trading day, as tech looked to maintain its momentum from last year.
The broader market index rose 0.7%, and nasdaq composite 1.3% advanced. Dow Jones Industrial Average Traded 50 points or 0.1% higher.
Friday’s gains are a reversal of first-day trading trends of the past few years. The S&P 500 closed lower on the first day of trading in each of the last three years. Going back to the 1950s, there is no clear trend, with the first day’s close nearly 48% positive, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
NVIDIA Shares rose more than 3%. Artificial intelligence-related names were a big winner in 2025, rising nearly 39%. partner tech stock Apple And alphabet Each rose 2%.
Tesla Shares remained higher despite the company’s fourth-quarter deliveries falling short of analysts’ estimates. To be sure, the numbers were better than Wall Street whisper numbers, which had expected an even bigger decline.
Elsewhere, shares of the online home goods maker wayfair and luxury furniture retailers RH The increases came more than 5% and 6%, respectively, after President Donald Trump on New Year’s Eve postponed for a year tariff increases on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities. The order specifically delays the 30% duty on upholstered furniture and the 50% duty on kitchen cabinets and vanities, retaining the 25% duty on those items that was imposed in September.
Tech was the best trade of 2025, leading the broader market’s sharp gains as investors continued to pour into AI names. The S&P 500 rose more than 16% last year, its third consecutive annual gain. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 20% last year and the Dow is up nearly 13%. All three benchmarks reached record highs last year.
“It was a strong year overall, driven by sustained economic growth, optimism around AI and more central bank rate cuts,” Deutsche Bank strategists wrote. “However, those headline gains masked heavy volatility, particularly in April when Liberation Day tariff announcements led to the 5th largest two-day decline for the S&P 500 since World War II.”
Wall Street strategists expect more gains in the US stock market in 2026. The CNBC Market Strategists survey shows that the average S&P 500 target for the year is 7,629, indicating an increase of 11.4%.
