January 24, 2026 Market Update

Market Recap: 

Happy Saturday! Jim Picerno here, filling in for Andy, who’s on holiday this week.

The U.S. stock market eased for a second straight week as the major indexes stabilized after a brief but sharp selloff on Tuesday. Markets staged a partial recovery as geopolitical concerns moderated that the U.S. might impose new tariffs on some European nations over a dispute about Greenland.

Treasury yields rose sharply earlier in the week, but the spike in rates mostly reversed by Friday’s close. When the dust settled, the U.S. 10-year yield was virtually unchanged on the week, ticking up to 4.24%--the highest since September, but still a middling level vs. the range over the past year.

Precious metals continued to surge as geopolitical and macro concerns drove prices higher for these safe-haven commodities. Gold approached $5,000 an ounce and silver topped $100 at Friday’s close. 

For the week ahead, investors will focus on the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 28. Markets are expecting that the central bank will leave its target rate unchanged after three rate cuts in 2025. 

Market Performance

Economic Commentary: Still Resilient

Worries about a U.S. recession remained muted in the wake of the latest economic updates. The government reported that last year’s third-quarter GDP, the broadest measure of economic activity, was revised up to a strong 4.4%, marking the highest quarterly increase in two years.

A key driver of the third-quarter GDP report: robust consumer spending. Although job growth has slowed and sentiment on Main Street remains relatively soft, consumer spending posted solid gains in October and November.

Q3’s growth momentum is expected to persist in Q4, according to the latest nowcast from the Atlanta Fed. The regional Fed bank’s widely-followed GDPNow model is estimating that economic activity accelerated in the final three months of the year to a red-hot 5.4% pace. 

In Case You Missed It: A New Front Runner For Fed Chair

The latest twist in the evolving outlook for President Trump’s pick as the next chair of the Federal Reserve focused on BlackRock fixed-income chief Rick Rieder. Following favorable remarks from the President on Wednesday, betting markets elevated Reider as the front-runner to succeed the current chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.