Market Recap

Week Ending 17th January 2025

Stocks climbed Friday, as the three major averages posted their first weekly gain of the new year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 334.70 points, or 0.78%, to end at 43,487.83. The S&P 500 gained 1% to 5,996.66, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.51% to 19,630.20.

Big tech stocks were higher on the day, with shares of Tesla popping 3%. Chipmaking giant Nvidia jumped 3.1%, while Alphabet shares added more than 1%.

For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 advanced 3.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Both indexes posted their biggest weekly advance since the week of the U.S. presidential election in November. The Nasdaq climbed 2.5% week to date for its best one-week performance since early December.

Those gains come after investors received back-to-back reports showing inflationary pressures softening somewhat. The core consumer price indexrose less than expected year on year, and the producer price index also had a smaller-than-anticipated increase for December. The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back sharply as hopes for multiple rate cuts this year rose.

The better-than-expected economic data earlier this week has helped “revive the goldilocks narrative for equities, and likely prompted some re-risking,” Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau wrote in a Friday note.

Strong earnings from major banks also boosted stocks this week, as they tried to shake off December doldrums that carried over into the start of 2025. Shares of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were each roughly 12% higher on the week, while JPMorgan Chase added 8% in the period.

Investors are also looking ahead to next week, as Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as president for the second time. Stocks rallied right after his November electoral victory, as investors bet on deregulation and lower taxes.