MARKET INSIGHTS

Weekly market commentary

Jan 05, 2026 | Blackrock Investment Institute

Three investment lessons for 2026

Market take

Weekly video_20260105

Natalie Gill

Portfolio Strategist, BlackRock Investment Institute

Opening frame: What’s driving markets? Market take

Camera frame

Three main lessons stand out: immutable economic laws limit policy extremes, mega forces – especially AI – overshadow traditional macro anchors, and the rise of tokenized assets show a fast-changing financial system.

Title slide: Three investment lessons for 2026

1: World can’t change fast

U.S. stocks held up in what turned out to be an eventful year. The April 2nd tariff announcement triggered the S&P 500’s worst week since the pandemic, yet equities still ended the year with double-digit gains. Government bonds also delivered as yields fell despite some fiscal worries and persistent inflation.

A softer dollar and Federal Reserve policy easing helped boost international stocks. Gold surged about 60% as investors rethought what diversification means in this new market regime, and the AI buildout accounted for roughly half of U.S. GDP growth.

We think the resilience of the U.S. economy stems in part from our first lesson: immutable economic laws mean the world can’t change quickly. We saw this play out in real-time as policy uncertainty weighed on investors, until one of these immutable laws – supply chains can’t be rewired overnight – prevented the maximal stance on tariffs and helped stocks recover.

2: Mega forces trump the macro

Recession fears were front and center at the beginning of the year. Yet growth stayed resilient because mega forces – led by AI – outweighed the macro backdrop. The macro anchors that helped guide investors for decades, such as stable inflation and fiscal discipline, have weakened.

In this environment, there is no ''neutral'' portfolio allocation. We think investors should focus more on owning risk deliberately instead of spreading it indiscriminately. That means owning a view on AI winners and losers and seeking unique return sources – like private markets and hedge funds.

3: Future of finance rapidly evolving

The future of finance mega force is evolving faster than expected as stablecoin adoption and the tokenization of assets rise. The 2025 Genius Act provides the first U.S. legislation for stablecoins but bars interest payments - though a ''marketing-rewards'' provision allows for yield-like incentives. This could allow for competition with bank deposits and money market funds.

Outro: Here’s our Market take
2025 was a year that pushed limits on multiple fronts, from the constraints of trade policy early in the year to the advancement of the AI theme. We plan to keep tracking this theme into the new year and stay risk-on.

Closing frame: Read details: blackrock.com/weekly-commentary

Our three lessons

We see three lessons after a volatile 2025: immutable laws constrain extremes; mega forces trump the macro; and the financial system is evolving fast.

Market backdrop

U.S. stocks climbed 16.6% for a third straight year of double-digit gains. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields ended the year around 4.15% after data-driven swings.

Week ahead

The U.S. economic calendar begins to normalize this week. December payrolls will help to clarify the labor market picture after the noisy delayed releases.

The Federal Reserve looks poised to cut interest rates again next week while awaiting a backlog of U.S. economic data after the government shutdown. We think this is warranted given a cooling labor market, reflected in the September payrolls and recent jobless claims data. A soft labor market allows Fed policy easing, one reason we stay pro-risk. We see a risk of revived tensions between sticky inflation and debt sustainability in the U.S. The UK shows how fiscal pressures are global.

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AI boost
Contributions to annual U.S. GDP growth, 2000-2025

The chart shows that non-residential investment's contribution to U.S. GDP in 2025 is nearly three times its average from 2000 to 2019.

Source: BlackRock Investment Institute, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, with data from Haver Analytics, September 2025. Note: The bars show the contribution of various factors to annual U.S. GDP growth. The bar for 2025 shows the contribution through the first half of 2025.

2025 was a unique year for markets. The April 2 tariff announcements sparked the worst one-week selloff in the S&P 500 since the pandemic, yet stocks posted double-digit gains for the third year in a row. U.S. Treasuries also delivered solid returns even as fiscal pressures and sticky inflation caused investors to demand more term premium. Higher term premium hurt the U.S. dollar, raising questions about its reserve currency status. Those questions subsided, as we anticipated, but a weaker U.S. dollar and Federal Reserve policy easing boosted global stocks: the MSCI EM Index rose 30% versus the S&P 500’s 16%, in dollar terms. Gold surged over 60% in a risk-on year as a diversification play became a return driver. And the AI buildout drove about half of U.S. growth, with investment’s contribution to GDP nearly triple its 2000 to 2019 average. See the chart. Why such resilience?

We think the U.S. economy’s resilience partly stems from our first lesson: immutable economic laws – such as supply chains can’t be rewired overnight – mean the world can’t change quickly. Markets were whipsawed many times this year, but we thought such laws would prevent a maximal stance on tariffs and other policy changes that sparked so much uncertainty in the first half of the year. That played out: U.S. stocks rebounded from April’s selloff, with the S&P 500 gaining 16% last year.

Powerful mega forces can trump the macro

Our second lesson – powerful mega forces can trump the macro – helped us look through the noise and kept us pro-risk on the strength of the AI theme, another call that played out. The macro anchors that markets relied on for decades, like stable inflation expectations and fiscal discipline, have weakened. Instead, a few mega forces are driving structural transformation, with AI emerging as the dominant one. Because there is no “neutral” portfolio allocation in this environment, investors should focus on owning their risk deliberately rather than spreading it – a more active approach, in our view. Identifying manager skill will be key for spotting those who can find the winners as AI gains spread across the economy, as well as for other idiosyncratic sources of return like private markets and hedge funds.

We also see the future of finance mega force evolving far more rapidly than expected – our third lesson – as adoption of stablecoins and tokenization increases. The 2025 Genius Act established the first U.S. framework for payment stablecoins – digital tokens pegged to a fiat currency and backed by liquid reserves. The law bars interest payments, but a “marketing rewards” provision permits yield-like incentives. That allows competition with bank deposits or money market funds, potentially impacting how banks provide credit and current global payment systems. If broadly adopted in emerging markets as a local currency alternative, stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar could even help cement its reserve currency status and partly offset current negative sentiment and positioning on the dollar. Tokenization, which involves recording asset ownership on digital ledgers, allows for instant settlement and could widen access to illiquid private market asset classes.

Our bottom line

2025 pushed limits on multiple fronts, with constraints biting in some cases (trade policy) and new ground broken on others (AI investment and financial innovation). We track these mega forces into 2026 and stay risk-on for now.

Market backdrop

The S&P 500 surged 16.6% in 2025. Mega cap tech names remained the key drivers of the AI theme, though concerns over frothy valuations made it a bumpy ride: Nvidia’s market cap at one point lost 35% before the firm became the world’s first $5 trillion company. Markets expect more Fed policy easing and have slashed their year-end 2026 rate expectations to about 3%, LSEG data show. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell 42 basis points during the year to 4.15%.

The U.S. data calendar starts to normalize this week, with the regularly scheduled payrolls data for December coming out at its usual time on Friday. We eye a cleaner read on the labor market and inflation in coming months given the noise of the October-November data. For example, the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November – yet some of this was the temporary impact of the government shutdown and could be quickly reversed.

Week ahead

The chart shows that gold was the best-performing asset in 2025, while brent crude was the worst.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. Indexes are unmanaged and do not account for fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Sources: BlackRock Investment Institute, with data from LSEG Datastream as of December 31, 2025. Notes: The two ends of the bars show the lowest and highest returns at any point year to date, and the dots represent current year-to-date returns. Emerging market (EM), high yield and global corporate investment grade (IG) returns are denominated in U.S. dollars, and the rest in local currencies. Indexes or prices used are: spot Brent crude, ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), spot gold, spot bitcoin, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, MSCI Europe Index, LSEG Datastream 10-year benchmark government bond index (U.S., Germany and Italy), Bloomberg Global High Yield Index, J.P. Morgan EMBI Index, Bloomberg Global Corporate Index and MSCI USA Index.

Jan. 5

U.S. Jan. ISM manufacturing PMI

Jan. 6

U.S. Jan. ISM services PMI

Jan. 7

U.S. Nov. job openings; U.S. trade

Jan. 9

U.S. Dec. payrolls

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Big calls

Our highest conviction views on six- to 12-month (tactical) and over five-year (strategic) horizons, January 2026

  Reasons
Tactical  
Still favor AI We see the AI theme supported by strong earnings, resilient profit margins and healthy balance sheets at large listed tech companies. Continued Fed easing into 2026 and reduced policy uncertainty underpin our overweight to U.S. equities.
Select international exposures We like Japanese equities on strong nominal growth and corporate governance reforms. We stay selective in European equities, favoring financials, utilities and healthcare. In fixed income, we prefer EM due to improved economic resilience and disciplined fiscal and monetary policy.
Evolving diversifiers We suggest looking for a “plan B” portfolio hedge as long-dated U.S. Treasuries no longer provide portfolio ballast – and to mind potential sentiment shifts. We like gold as a tactical play with idiosyncratic drivers but don’t see it as a long-term portfolio hedge.
Strategic  
Portfolio construction We favor a scenario-based approach as AI winners and losers emerge. We lean on private markets and hedge funds for idiosyncratic return and to anchor portfolios in mega forces.
Infrastructure equity and private credit We find infrastructure equity valuations attractive and mega forces underpinning structural demand. We still like private credit but see dispersion ahead – highlighting the importance of manager selection.
Beyond market-cap benchmarks We get granular in public markets. We favor DM government bonds outside the U.S. Within equities, we favor EM over DM yet get selective in both. In EM, we like India which sits at the intersection of mega forces. In DM, we like Japan as mild inflation and corporate reforms brighten the outlook.

Note: Views are from a U.S. dollar perspective, January 2026. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding any particular funds, strategy or security.

Tactical granular views

Six- to 12-month tactical views on selected assets vs. broad global asset classes by level of conviction, January 2026

Legend Granular

We have lengthened our tactical investment horizon back to six to 12 months. The table below reflects this and, importantly, leaves aside the opportunity for alpha, or the potential to generate above-benchmark returns – especially at a time of heightened volatility.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Note: Views are from a U.S. dollar perspective. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast or guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon as investment advice regarding any particular fund, strategy or security.

Euro-denominated tactical granular views

Six to 12-month tactical views on selected assets vs. broad global asset classes by level of conviction, January 2026

Legend Granular

We have lengthened our tactical investment horizon back to six to 12 months. The table below reflects this and, importantly, leaves aside the opportunity for alpha, or the potential to generate above-benchmark returns – especially at a time of heightened volatility.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Note: Views are from a euro perspective, January 2026. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast or guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon as investment advice regarding any particular fund, strategy or security.

Meet the authors
Jean Boivin
Head – BlackRock Investment Institute
Wei Li
Global Chief Investment Strategist – BlackRock Investment Institute
Glenn Purves
Global Head of Macro – BlackRock Investment Institute
Natalie Gill
Portfolio Strategist – BlackRock Investment Institute