Wall Street ends flat ahead of long weekend; S&P 500 down for week

VIDEO SHOWS: NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE) CLOSING BELL, COMMENTS FROM MARKET ANALYST, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSING NUMBER.  RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT. SHOWS: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 16, 2026) (NYSE – Access all) 1. MSG SPORTS AND NEW YORK KNICKS RINGING NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE) CLOSING BELL HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 16, 2026) (REUTERS –  Access all) 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CONCURRENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, LEAH BENNETT, SAYING: “I think the market is really interesting today for a multitude of reasons. One, I do think it's quite fascinating, if you think about the market in general, it likes stability and we have not had stability this year, especially from a macro perspective and geopolitical perspective. And I think we have this big battle between secular spending on AI and the headwinds with potential missteps by the administration or on policy in general.” 3. WHITE FLASH 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CONCURRENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, LEAH BENNETT, SAYING: “So, I think there is a variety of things that could materialize as far as potential missteps. The obvious is the changes in the Fed (Federal Reserve) and potential concerns about independence of the Fed as we go through the change in composition there. So, that's one area. If there is a belief there is less independence by the Federal Reserve, that could certainly cause a pullback in the market. I don't think we know the long-term ramifications of Venezuela yet. Certainly, lower oil prices would be a positive. But what are going to be the economics for oil companies as they… as they come in Venezuela? And what is the long-term stability of that country as well? So, and I still don't think we really know what's going to happen with tariffs. Are we going to use the additional revenue generated by tariffs to pay down the debt? So, there's a lot of uncertainty, and any potential missteps in some of those items could lead to a pullback in the markets.’ NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 16, 2026) (NYSE – Access all) 5. DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSING NUMBERS STORY: U.S. stocks ended nearly flat on Friday (January 16) in a choppy session ahead of the long weekend, although all three major indexes posted losses for the week as fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off. Shares of chipmakers rose, with an index of semiconductors extending gains from Thursday (January 15). Big U.S. banks posted mostly solid results this week as the S&P 500 reporting period got underway. Still, shares of banks and other financial institutions have been pressured by worries over U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%. Financials were down for the week. Investors also digested news that Trump said he may want to keep economic adviser Kevin Hassett in his current role, lowering market bets that Hassett would succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The S&P 500 lost 4.46 points, or 0.064%, to end at 6,940.01 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 14.634 points, or 0.062%, to 23,515.388. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.11 points, or 0.17%, to 49,359.33. (Production: Alex Cohen, Kyoko Gasha)

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