S&P 500 Index Trades Near Record High as Mega Cap Tech Stocks Powered Rally Continues

Barry Adams
28 Dec, 2023
New York City

Stock market indexes on Wall Street were little changed in Thursday's trading, and investors reviewed the latest job market and pending home sales data.

The S&P 500 index is trading near its record high, and the Nasdaq Composite is set to register its best annual gain since 2003.

Stocks have been on the upswing for the last eight weeks in a row on the bets that the federal reserve has wider latitude in navigating inflation to its target level of 2% while keeping the economy growing at a healthy annual pace of near 2%.

The tricky maneuver, known as soft landing, is hard to achieve, but the Federal Reserve is more likely to engineer such a feat in 2024 because consumer spending is resilient and labor market conditions are still healthy.

Moreover, the steady economic expansion is also powering corporate earnings growth and supporting the stock market advance.

 

Initial Weekly Jobless Claims Rise 

Initial jobless claims for the week ending on December 23 rose by 12,000 to 218,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 206,000 and the 4-week moving average was 212,000, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average.

The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 212,000 to 212,250.

Continuing claims during the week ending December 16 were 1,875,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level.

The previous week's level was revised down by 4,000 from 1,865,000 to 1,861,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,864,500, a decrease of 12,500 from the previous week's revised average.

The previous week's average was revised down by 1,000 from 1,878,000 to 1,877,000.

 

Pending Home Sales Declined In November 

Pending home sales in November were unchanged from the previous month, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

The pending home sales index declined 1.2% in November, matching the revised rate in October, indicating a weak rebound in demand for homes despite the easing of mortgage rates in the month.

Pending transactions were down 5.2% from a year ago.

The Northeast, Midwest, and West posted monthly gains in transactions, while the South recorded a loss.

All four U.S. regions registered year-over-year declines in transactions.

 

U.S. Indexes and Yields

Benchmark indexes continued their advance in December, in the fourth quarter, and throughout the year.

In December, the S&P 500 advanced 4.0% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6%, and in the fourth quarter, the indexes gained 12% and 14%, respectively.

The Nasdaq index is up 44%, its best annual gain since 2003.

In Wednesday's trading, the S&P 500 index gained 0.03% to 4,768.13, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.02% to 15,041.07.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 4.26%, 10-year Treasury notes inched higher to 3.81%, and 30-year Treasury bonds eased to 3.97%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.91 to $73.19 a barrel, and natural gas prices increased 2 cents to $2.46 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased $1.03 to $2,076.13 an ounce and extended this year's gains to 14.6%.

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 100.83.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Apple Inc. increased 0.3% to $193.65 after the popular electronic gadget maker won temporary relief from the U.S. government ban on the sale of some Apple Watch models.

General Motors declined 0.2% to $36.0, and the automaker sued the San Francisco government to recover $108 million paid over the last seven years despite having no presence or employees in the city.