MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks rose on strength in technology shares. Treasury yields rose, while the dollar gained slightly. Oil futures ended higher, and gold prices rose.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

Stocks rallied to close the week near fresh records as technology shares continued their rebound from a volatile period.

U.S. indexes rose Friday with the Nasdaq composite leading gains. The benchmark has been particularly choppy in recent days-it has moved at least 1% on each of the last three days, the longest streak of such moves since April's tariff turmoil.

Nasdaq rose 1.3%, aided by sharp increases in Nvidia, Palantir and Broadcom. The S&P 500, which rose 0.9%, is now about 1% from its record from earlier this month.

Friday's gains followed a jump in stocks Thursday inspired by an encouraging inflation readout. Economists said the report was likely distorted though, a view echoed by New York Fed President John Williams.

A cloudy economic picture-along with artificial-intelligence jitters that have weighed on tech shares this week-have some investors pinning hopes of fresh records on an end-of-year Santa Claus rally. The Dow industrials, which rose 0.4% Friday, is also about 1% from its all-time high.

Asian equities were up, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 1% on the back of the rally in U.S. tech stocks.

In China, the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.4%. The Shenzhen Composite ended 1% higher, while the ChiNext Price Index rose 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8%

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index gained 0.4%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 0.6%.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures settled higher on the day, but down in a week marked by geopolitical themes around Venezuela and Russia-Ukraine, while underlying concerns about oversupply keep sentiment bearish.

"Crude futures remain in a holding trading pattern awaiting news of both Russia/Ukraine talks (that currently seem stalled) and exactly how Venezuela's blockade is going to play out," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial said. Those were support points, although "the reality remains that global supplies are well over the 5-year averages and on-the-water storage sets at record levels."

WTI for January delivery went off the board at $56.66 a barrel, up 0.9% for a 1.4% weekly loss. Brent rose 1.1% to $60.47, and was 1.1% lower on the week.

Front month gold rose 0.5%, and ended the week 1.4% higher at $4361.40.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Consumer Sentiment Rose in December But Remains Dim, Michigan Survey Suggests

Consumers' economic mood recovered slightly in December but remained broadly gloomy as households face drawn-out inflation and a frustrating labor market for job seekers, according to the University of Michigan's monthly survey.

This month the survey's headline index rose to 52.9, from 51 in November. A preliminary mid-month December result showed a reading of 53.3, and economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a slight additional increase to 53.5 in the final number.

High prices and weaker hiring continue to weigh on consumers, survey director Joanne Hsu said. More than 60% expect joblessness to continue rising over the next year, the survey found.

Home Sales Rose in November for the Third Consecutive Month

Home sales rose in November for the third straight month, with lower mortgage rates injecting some fresh momentum into the long sluggish housing market.

Sales of existing homes rose 0.5% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million, the highest level since February, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.7% increase.

The three consecutive months of rising sales is the longest streak since December 2024.

U.S. Labor Market Softened in October, November

The U.S. jobs market weakened toward the end of the year as labor demand slowed, a gauge of payroll employment showed Friday, fueling further concerns about hiring after the unemployment rate edged higher.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index, or ETI, declined to 105.80 in a joint number for October and November, from a downwardly revised 106.24 in September.

The release for the two months was delayed throughout the government shutdown. The next report is due to be published Feb. 10.

Tesla Wins Final Court Fight Over Elon Musk's Pay Package

Tesla won its fight over a record-breaking pay package for Chief Executive Elon Musk that was approved by shareholders in 2018.

An opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court issued Friday ends the yearslong legal battle over compensation that grew in value to total more than $126 billion.

The court reversed the 2024 decision from Delaware's Chancery Court, that rescinded Musk's pay package after finding that Tesla's directors were beholden to its CEO and that the approval process for the pay deal was tainted and lacked transparency.

More Drugmakers Reach Deals With White House to Lower Prices

Nine pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, GSK and Merck agreed to lower the prices that certain federal government programs and patients pay, in a new round of industry pacts with the Trump administration.

The companies said they would reduce U.S. prices on drugs to levels comparable with prices charged in other wealthy countries, which are generally much lower. In return, the companies get administration-backed reprieves from potential new U.S. tariffs for three years.

President Trump announced the deals Friday at the White House, joined by top executives of the nine companies. Shares in the companies were up on the news.

Shein Averts Ban in France Over Childlike Sex Dolls, Weapons

Shein scored a win Friday after a Paris court rejected a request from the French government to suspend the e-commerce giant's platform over the sale of childlike sex dolls and other contentious products.

The government of President Emmanuel Macron has been at loggerheads with Shein for weeks after French authorities said they had found illicit products being sold on the platform. The government subsequently requested judges to suspend Shein's platform for at least three months.

The company, founded in China but based in Singapore, moved to temporarily suspend sales from third-party vendors on its marketplace in France after ascertaining that sex dolls resembling children were being sold starting Oct. 16. Items such as weapons and medications were also available. Shein said it had taken down those listings and tightened controls.

Oracle Stock Jumps After Forming TikTok Joint Venture

TikTok and Chinese owner ByteDance signed agreements with Oracle and two other investors to form a new U.S. joint venture. Oracle stock jumped on the news.

CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees in a memo viewed by Barron's that the joint venture will be 50% held by a consortium of new investors, which includes Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. Each of those firms will hold 15% in the new entity, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.

ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake, and affiliates of certain existing investors of ByteDance will hold 30.1% of the venture. It wasn't immediately clear who the remaining investors are.

Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern File for Merger Approval From Surface Transportation Board

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board requesting approval of their proposed merger.

The application, filed Friday, said the merger would boost competition, streamlining pricing of interline moves for thousands of customer locations. It also would allow the industry to compete more effectively with long-haul trucking, the companies said.

The deal also would move freight more efficiently and preserve all union jobs that exist at the time of the merger, according to the application. The growth of the combined company also is expected to create about 900 net new union jobs by the third year following the merger.