The S&P 500 increased at 13.5% annually over the last decade, but Wall Street expects slightly lower returns in 2026.

Corporate profits and falling interest rates may be enough to lift the S&P 500 to a fourth-straight year of gains, the longest such streak in nearly two decades.

Wall Street steadied on Thursday as stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry bounced back after an encouraging report from a Taiwanese chip giant and as oil prices eased sharply.

Wall Street's investment bankers expect to stay busy this year after reaping a windfall from ​big-ticket deals and stock market listings in 2025.

As measured by the S&P 500 index (which represents about 80% of total U.S. market capitalization), the market rose 24% in 2023, an equally impressive 23% in 2024, and another 17% year to date in 2025. Keep in mind that the average annual return for the S&P 500 is approximately 10.5%, so those three years have been exceptional for investors.

For the better part of the last 16 years, the U.S. stock market has been unstoppable. Outside of the COVID-19 crash, which lasted five weeks, and the 2022 bear market that endured about nine months, investors have been basking in long-lasting bull markets.

Oil prices were retreating early Thursday, giving back some of the gains this week as President Donald Trump softened his tone on Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures were down about 4.6% Thu

Stock futures rose as investors parse bank earnings and welcomed upbeat results from TSMC, a key supplier in the artificial-intelligence boom.