Weekly market recap - Friday, 2-Jan

Stocks ended lower this week with most discussion centered on the failed Santa Claus rally/lack of seasonal tailwind, while broader macro catalysts were limited. December FOMC minutes offered no surprises, and reinforced expectations for cautious, gradual easing in 2026 though division within the Fed remains a key focus point. Housing data modestly surprised to the upside, jobless claims declined w/w, and markets continued to look ahead to early-2026 catalysts.

It was another very quiet, low-volume session ahead of tomorrow's Christmas Eve early close. Big tech was mostly higher with Nvidia faring best. Today's economic data offered mixed macro takeaways with stronger hard data (GDP, ADP private payrolls) but weaker soft data (Consumer Confidence, Richmond Fed Index).

US equities finished higher in Monday trading, ending not far from best levels. It was a fairly quiet session from a headline perspective, but the momentum from late last week carried over into a broad risk-on day. A bit of Fedspeak today in macro news.

Major US equity indices were mixed this week. Major AI infrastructure names saw additional scrutiny after reports of stalled negotiations for a $10B Michigan datacenter with Blue Owl Capital, Oracle's largest datacenter partner (though Oracle says the project remains on track). However, other AI headlines from the week were more upbeat, including a very well-received earnings report from Micron.

US equities higher in Thursday trading, just off their best levels. Disinflation traction and better tech/AI sentiment were the big pieces to today's risk-on, broad-based rally. Additionally, the day saw the coolest core CPI print in nearly five years adding support to dovish Fed narrative.

US equities were lower in Wednesday trading, finishing near worst levels, with the Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq closing down 47bps, 116bps, and 181bps respectively. AI weakness was the big story today following Financial Times report that Blue Owl backed out of an Oracle and OpenAI data center project in Michigan with no reprieve from Oracle comments project remains on track. Fedespeak from Waller remarks at Yale had a dovish cast. Today’s $13B auction of 20s was well received. Micron earnings after the close and President Trump addressing nation tonight.

Stocks were mostly lower with Energy and healthcare the big specific decliners. Rotational dynamics were mostly on pause with cyclicals/small caps mostly lower and AI-linked/semis/Big Tech trading mixed. Treasuries were a bit firmer after today's high profile economic data.

US equities were lower in Monday trading as stocks ended a bit off worst levels. Stocks were modestly lower in anticipation of key catalysts later this week. In macro news, the December Empire State Manufacturing Index posted a surprise negative print.

US equities were mixed this week. The Nasdaq was the worst performing major average, while the S&P ended the week slightly lower despite capping off a fresh record close on Thursday. The big market story was the cyclical rotation that gained further traction at the expense of the momentum and AI trades. The rotation was tabbed to factors including the less hawkish FOMC takeaways, a looming 2026 fiscal impulse with OBBA, taxes, and deprecation expense tailwinds, as well as some company-specific updates around the AI trade.

US equities finished mostly higher in Thursday trading, ending near best levels. Tech was a notable underperformer with disappointing results from Oracle exacerbating the negative sentiment surrounding AI infrastructure. Additionally, Google lagged after the (expected) rollout of the new GPT 5.2 model, given recent enthusiasm over its Gemini 3 release.