US stock futures fell on Friday, starting the new year 2026 on a negative note.
The decline came as investors were cautious about continuing the strong momentum of gains achieved throughout 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.63% to 303.77 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.74% and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 0.76% to 177.09 points.
Despite the market decline at the beginning of the year, several technology stocks performed positively with Palantir Technologies jumping 136.40%, AppLovin (97.15%), Alphabet (65.23%) and Nvidia (34.84%).
However, the surge in technology stocks was unable to eliminate the increasing market uncertainty.
High stock valuations raise questions about the durability of this upward trend, especially when the direction of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy is still unclear.
Meanwhile, heightened geopolitical risks and the threat of new US tariffs continue to undermine investor confidence, causing stock price volatility to become more intense.
The market is now awaiting manufacturing and services PMI data, as well as the JOLTS report next week, which is expected to determine the next direction of investment.
