Stock market today: Dow, S&P, Nasdaq climb as techs and rate-cut hopes revive

The US Supreme Court upheld a law that bans TikTok on Jan. 19 unless it is sold to an owner not controlled by a foreign adversary, a ruling that creates new uncertainty for an app used by 170 million Americans, reports Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Keenan and Daniel Howley.

The court sided with the US government’s argument that ties between TikTok’s parent ByteDance and the Beijing presented a national security threat that empowered Congress to demand it be sold.

TikTok had argued it was entitled to the constitution’s First Amendment protections, and that its proprietary algorithm was in fact an editorial expression that qualified as speech.

The court’s decision likely leaves the fate of TikTok in the hands of President-elect Trump, who promised to “save TikTok” and had asked the court to suspend the divestment deadline. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Read more about TikTok’s fate in the US here.

A tech stock revival drove a jump on Wall Street Friday, as investors took in a week of favorable inflation readings and impressive corporate earnings, shifting market sentiment back towards optimism as the Federal Reserve considers its rate-setting policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.7%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1%, coming off a losing day for the major gauges. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) put on over 1.6% as Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) shares nudged back into the green.

Markets have turned upbeat as investors take stock of recent days’ big bank earnings and inflation readings, which have resuscitated bets on interest-rate cuts. Stocks are on track for big weekly wins after a major rally on Wednesday, while the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) pulled back to ar 4.6% on Friday.

Housing starts rose in December, buoyed by a pickup in multifamily construction.

Data from the Census Bureau showed that housing jumped 15.8% in December to an annual rate of 1.49 million, which was higher than economists’ expectations for an annual rate of 1.32 million.

Single-family starts had a modest advance. Construction rose 3.3% to an annualized rate of 1.05 million, the strongest pace since February 2024. Meanwhile, construction for multifamily dwellings grew by nearly 62%.

“Housing starts soared at the end of the year, but this does not mean the country is out of the woods when it comes to the problems in the residential housing sector,” Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, wrote after the release.

“There still is not enough housing in the country, and the construction of residential homes remains historically depressed,” the economist added.

To this point, new construction in 2024 was the slowest it has been since 2019, per Bloomberg. Despite the rise in construction, builders are dealing with elevated mortgage rates. Freddie Mac said mortgage rates increased to 7.04% this week, hitting the highest since May 2024. Rates on a home loan tend to follow US Treasury yields, which had been climbing higher following strong employment data.