Stocks Rise at Start of 2026, Precious Metals Gain: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks kicked off trading in the new year on a positive note, with US equity-index futures advancing, while gold and silver gained.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes rose 0.2%, while Australian shares edged up. Precious metals rebounded, with spot gold rising 0.7% and silver advancing 1%. Cryptocurrencies gained, while Australia’s sovereign bonds dropped. There will be no cash trading in Treasuries in Asian hours due to a holiday in Japan.

Trading is likely to be thin across Asia with several markets shut, including China. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 extended a stretch of post-Christmas losses and the Nasdaq 100 had a fourth day of declines. Even so, both indexes have posted double-digit gains for three straight years.

Despite the recent pullback, global stocks posted their strongest year since 2019, supported by expectations of stronger earnings and optimism around artificial intelligence. Even so, uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary policy and elevated valuations among technology companies remain key risks.

“The end of 2025 was a fizzer in global markets but it doesn’t detract from the fact it was a very good year for investors,” Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note. “Naturally, the start of the new year comes with the question everyone asks moving from one year to the next: will this continue? The consensus is that, yes, it will.”

Elsewhere, a Bloomberg gauge of the dollar was a touch weaker on Friday.

Last year, the world’s reserve currency recorded its worst year since 2017, with investors saying more declines are coming if the next Federal Reserve chief opts for deeper interest-rate cuts.

“Structural dollar risk is elevated in January,” said Richard Franulovich, head of FX strategy at Westpac Banking Corp.

Meanwhile, AI remains one of the key themes for the markets. Wall Street is now well aware of the risks surrounding the AI boom. But when it comes to the year ahead, few advocate walking away from what they describe as a “revolutionary technology.”

The economic impact of AI was a top story in 2025 and will remain so in 2026, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists including Joseph Briggs and Andrew Tilton, wrote in a note Wednesday.

While AI-related capex has clearly surged, the impact on GDP has been minimal and the AI spending boom doesn’t look particularly large when appropriately benchmarked against past technology investment cycles, they wrote.

“We remain optimistic on global growth in 2026, largely because our growth forecasts are well above consensus in the US and China,” they said.

Market research firm Bespoke Investment Group cautioned against expecting solid market performance during the first trading day of the new year.

Since 1953, the S&P 500’s median change to kick off a new year has been a 0.3% drop, with gains less than half the time, according to a note by Bespoke. The stock market has also traded lower on the first trading day of each of the past three years, the note said.

Investors have at least one reason to be optimistic heading into the new year. MSCI’s gauge for global stocks has climbed an average 1.4% in January over the last 10 years and advanced in six of those instances, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

Corporate News:

Tesla Inc. is expected to report on Friday that it delivered around 440,900 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 11% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BYD Co. met its full-year sales target and likely surpassed Tesla Inc. to become the world’s largest electric-vehicle maker in 2025. Baidu Inc. submitted a proposal to the Hong Kong stock exchange for a separate listing of Kunlunxin, according to a filing to HKEX. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 9:43 a.m. Tokyo time Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1752 The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.69 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9778 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $88,541.59 Ether rose 0.3% to $2,994.85 Bonds

Australia’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.81% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger and Ruth Carson.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.