Stock Market Summary – January 14, 2026

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Russell 2000 initially fell nearly 500 points due to the criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with investors fearing President Donald Trump’s attempts to influence the central bank’s autonomy. However, they closed at all-time highs by the end of the day as support from economists and Republican opposition assured investors. The dollar slid against peers, safe-haven metals rose, and the CBOE Volatility Index rose but did not break its recent trading range.

AI chipmaker Cerebras signed a deal, reportedly worth over $10 billion, with OpenAI to deliver 750 megawatts of computing power through 2028. This deal diversifies Cerebras from the UAE’s G42, which accounted for 87% of revenue during the first half of 2024. Cerebras, which rivals Nvidia, filed for an IPO in 2024. The application was withdrawn in October after a funding round valued the company at $8.1 billion.

The S&P 500 fell by approximately 1% in the day, with Megacap tech stocks such as Broadcom dragging the market down. Major banks, including Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, experienced rough trading as well. Energy sector stocks gained along with rising WTI crude prices.

Wells Fargo’s share price fell over 5% following lower-than-expected Q4 revenue, despite exceeding expectations of earnings per share. The bank’s efficiency ratio improved while ROTCE increased year over year. The bank predicts an increase in net interest income in 2026 and plans to focus on organic growth now that it is free of the Federal Reserve’s asset cap.

Meanwhile, Rivian’s shares dropped over 8% after a downgrade, and shares of travel stocks like Airbnb also took a hit. Despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 results, shares of Bank of America and Citigroup also fell. Conversely, Biogen saw its stock dip more than 4% after warning it would take a $222 million pre-tax charge in Q4, while AppLovin also saw its shares fall over 9%.

Among the gainers, defensive stock sectors like consumer staples and energy saw gains as investors rotated towards less risky assets amid increased market volatility.