How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 1/8/2026

Audio By Carbonatix

Modest moves for Wall Street overall masked big gains underneath the surface, including for makers of weapons and other military equipment.

The S&P 500 closed barely changed Thursday, coming off its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.

Stocks of defense contractors rallied after President Donald Trump said he wants to increase the U.S. government’s spending on defense sharply. Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and L3Harris Technologies helped lead the way and offset losses for Nvidia and other tech stocks.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 rose 0.53 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,921.46.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 270.03 points, or 0.6%, to 49,266.11.

The Nasdaq composite fell 104.26 points, or 0.4%, to 23,480.02.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 28.48 points, or 1.1%, to 2,603.90.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 62.99 points, or 0.9%.

The Dow is up 883.72 points, or 1.8%.

The Nasdaq is up 244.39 points, or 1.1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 95.68 points, or 3.8%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 75.96 points, or 1.1%.

The Dow is up 1,202.82 points, or 2.5%.

The Nasdaq is up 238.03 points, or 1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 122.00 points, or 4.9%.