CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Higher, Taiwan Investing $250 Billion Into US Chip Factories, Jobless Claims Tame 1/15/26

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

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I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Friday morning after a winning Thursday for stocks on strong bank earnings and better than expected jobs data. Jobless claims for last week came in at the lowest in two years, hinting the job market may not be weakening as much as first thought. The Dow up 292 points a half percent. It was led higher by shares of Goldman Sachs, which were up four and a half percent Thursday. The S&P 500 index up 17. The NASDAQ added 58 points. Shares of NVIDIA were up 2%. President Trump, clearing the way for NVIDIA to sell some H-200 chips to China with a big surcharge, kicking back to the U.S. government. Companies who shares at fresh all-time highs on Thursday include Hilton, Caterpillar, applied materials, and Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, each reporting strong results. And here's Nauveen's Sarah Malick on scene. NBC. Ongoing geopolitical issues and Fed tensions could cause the market to be quite volatile, but we are seeing a very strong earnings season so far. And in general, earnings tend to carry markets forward. We have a good earnings outlook for 2026. And that should be what supports the market going forward. Oil pulled back on Thursday as it became a little more clear that the U.S. wasn't

immediately going into Iran and a possible oil disruption would happen. Silver wrapped up Thursday at a fresh all-time high, topping $92 an ounce. Taiwan will invest a quarter billion dollars in U.S. chipmaking. Looks like Arizona is getting some new jobs. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik with CNBC's Christina Parts and Evelace. In his words, semiconductor manufacturing is coming home. Listen it. We're going to have hundreds of companies coming here.

We're going to build giant semiconductor industrial parks in America. And we are going to bring semi-conductor. conductors home to America. Comes really on the heels of a blowout quarter. This is the world's largest chip contract manufacturer. Making chips are some of the biggest names in technology, including Apple and video the likes. And Taiwan semi out with strong quarterly results, shares were up 4% on Thursday. Jobless claims in labor market data Thursday stronger than expected.

If the job market isn't weakening, the Fed won't feel the need to cut interest rates at its next meeting in two weeks. to me like the economy at the moment is running pretty hot. I think the committee is likely to interpret all that as a good time to wait and see how things develop over the coming weeks and even conceivably the coming months. That's former Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart on CNBC. Spotify raising subscription prices again for its premium music services just six months after the last price increase. Spotify will go up to $13 a month in February. Just showing that the model has staying power, their customers are very sticky. The price increases don't tend to send people away from the platform.

Spotify is encroached on Amazon's territory with the entry of audiobooks, and it looks like consumers have been willing to pay up for that. Capital area's Malcolm Etheridge on CNBC. On Friday's watch list, we get earnings from regional banks like PNC, regions, State Street, and M&T. New in theaters. Focus features Hamnet. Sony's 28 years later, The Bone Temple, Vivas animated Charlie the Wonder Dog and Amazon's The Nowhere Man. And looking ahead to Monday, the financial markets will be closed for the Martin Luther King three-day holiday weekend. Breaking earnings news. Market Reaction this week on CNBC and streaming on CNBC Plus.