United States benchmark averages rose on Thursday (Friday AEDT) with chipmaker stocks leading a recovery from two days of losses.
The S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher at 6,944.47 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% to 49,442.44 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.3% to 23,530.02.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) surged 4.4% after it reported a record fourth quarter profit. It plans to raise capital expenditure to US$52-56 billion this year.
Nvidia also rallied 2.1% after the U.S. formally approved sales of its H200 chips to China. China is drafting rules on how many advanced chips companies can buy from overseas manufacturers, Nikkei Asia reported.
Broadcom shares were up 0.9% and AMD lifted 1.9%. The S&P 500’s technology index rose 0.5%.
Banking stocks began to rebound from several days of declines as major banks continued to report earnings. Goldman Sachs shares grew 4.6% and Morgan Stanley rose 5.8% after both beat profit estimates.
The S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq had retreated on Tuesday and Wednesday (Wednesday and Thursday AEDT), the first back-to-back declines of 2026. Banking stocks fell for much of the week after U.S. President Donald Trump called for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates.
“We don’t see anything concerning in the Q4 earnings results from the big banks that would justify the weakness in these stocks. Bank stocks were standout performers in 2025 and the post-release pullback in these stocks likely reflects a sell-the-news type of thinking,” Zacks Investment Research director of research Sheraz Mian wrote.
U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped by 9,000 to 198,000 last week, below Dow Jones estimates of 215,000. This was impacted by seasonal fluctuations, however.
Two-year bond yields were up 0.05% to 3.568% and 10-year yields climbed 0.03% to 4.173%.
