Stocks rose Friday as Wall Street tried to end the week on a high note.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 100 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.
Riot up 7%; Micron up 6%; SanDisk and Novo Nordisk up 5%; Talen down 9%.
The major averages are coming off a winning session thanks to gains in chip stocks. Taiwan Semiconductor led the advance after a blowout fourth-quarter report. Further, the U.S. and Taiwan reached a trade agreement in which Taiwanese chip and tech companies will invest at least $250 billion in production capacity in America.
Bank stocks also got a boost after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley posted solid fourth-quarter results. Goldman shares gained more than 4%, while Morgan Stanley added nearly 6%.
“The fundamentals are really healthy. You’re looking for above-average earnings growth, margins, sales revenue, the Fed cutting interest rates likely this year. That’s all positive,” Larry Adam, Raymond James chief investment officer, said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.”
To be sure, Adam said he’s slightly cautious coming into 2026. Risks to the market’s gains include expensive valuations, which leaves the market vulnerable to disappointments, the investment chief said. He added that retail investors also already own a record amount of equity, and that the U.S. is readying for midterm elections that could lead to an uptick in volatility.
Investors are preparing to close out a hectic week. They’ve been grappling with a slate of headlines out of Washington, running the gamut from heightened geopolitical risk in Iran and Greenland to worries over threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence.
The major averages are heading for losses on the week, with the S&P 500 off 0.3% and the Nasdaq down 0.6% in the period. The Dow is down 0.1% week to date.
