Stock Market Live January 16, 2026: S&P 500 (SPY) Nearing Record Highs

Most of the major indices are green again.

The S&P 500 0.17%, as it nears record highs. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up about 0.14%. The Dow is down a fraction of a point, with the Nasdaq also up half a percent.

The S&P 500 could easily hit 7,000 today, which is just a few points off.

As noted by Forbes, “The S&P 500—tracking 500 of the largest American companies since 1957—reached 6,000 points on Nov. 8, 2024, after surpassing the 5,000-point milestone on Feb. 8 earlier that year. The index crossed the 4,000-point mark in April 2021, just under two years after surpassing 3,000 points in July 2019.”

Big Tech is Driving the Boom

Forcing markets higher, Taiwan Semiconductor just yesterday posted blowout earnings. Plus, the U.S. and Taiwan reached a trade agreement in which Taiwanese chip and tech companies will invest about $250 billion in production capacity in the U.S.

“In exchange, the U.S. will limit ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on Taiwan to 15%, down from 20%, and commit to zero reciprocal tariffs on generic pharmaceuticals, their ingredients, aircraft components and some natural resources,” according to CNBC.

Russell 2000 at All-Time Highs 

The Russell 2000 just hit all-time highs.

It’s also up 8.3% in January so far.

That puts it on track for its best start to a year in about 40 years. That’s thanks to strong projected earnings, the potential for more interest rate cuts, and data pointing to more U.S. economic strength. We also have to remember that “small caps tend to be more sensitive to changes in the economy and Fed policy, as more of their business is inside the U.S. rather than overseas,” as noted by CNBC.

Nvidia was upgraded by Oppenheimer

Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) are up another $3.10 after Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on the stock. As quoted by CNBC, the firm said, “NVDA is the AI castle on the hill, in our view, with the best performance/watt training and inference. NVDA sets the pace with an annual cadence of leading AI accelerators.” 

Jefferies also reiterated a buy on NVDA with a price target of $275 a share, noting that the tech giant remains the dominant supplier of acceleration solutions in the data center.

Loop Capital just reiterated an outperform rating on Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), noting that it’s trading at an attractive price ahead of earnings next week.

“We think the opportunity ahead is still massive, Netflix is positioned to win, acquiring HBO and Warner Bros. should be value accretive, and Netflix should remain a growth company for decades to come,” they added.

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