Mega-cap Stocks Powered U.S. Market Rally In 2023

Barry Adams
29 Dec, 2023
New York City

Stocks meandered on the final day of the week and 2023 in thin trading.

The S&P 500 index hovered near its record high, and the Nasdaq Composite edged higher, powered by the rise in mega-cap tech stocks.

Stocks on Wall Street staged a sharp turnaround in 2023 after the prospect of a much-foreseen recession faded and the Federal Reserve signaled the end of an aggressive rate hike.

over the last two months, market sentiment was further bolstered after several measures of inflation confirmed a steady decline following the weakening in crude oil prices from a year ago. 

Moreover, the Federal Reserve, at the end of its final meeting in December, signaled possible multiple rate cuts in 2024, provided inflation continues its downward path to the target rate of 2%.

Investors have grown more confident over the last nine weeks in the Federal Reserve's ability to maneuver the economy to a so-called soft landing after the economy continued to expand at a healthy pace and labor market conditions remained tight but not inflationary.

 

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 4.7% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6.1%, and in the fourth quarter, the indexes gained 11.6% and 14.2%, respectively.

The Nasdaq index was up 44.2% in 2023 before Friday's trading, its best annual gain since 2003.

In Thursday's trading, the S&P 500 index gained 0.04% to 4,783.35, and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 0.02% to 15,095.14.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 4.30%, 10-year Treasury notes inched higher to 3.88%, and 30-year Treasury bonds eased to 4.02%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.82 to $72.57 a barrel, and natural gas prices decreased 3 cents to $2.51 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased $5.50 to $2,061.45 an ounce and extended this year's gains to 13.0%.

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 101.35.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Fisker Inc. jumped 13% to $1.70 after the company said vehicle deliveries soared 300% in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter on the rising demand for its electric SUV.

Total deliveries increased to 4,700 in the fourth quarter at an average price of $69,000, and the company produced 10,142 vehicles in 2023.

The company began deliveries in Canada in December, and the electric vehicle maker now operates in 12 countries.

Nvidia increased 0.8% to $499.26 after the chipmaker launched a slower version of its gamin chip that met U.S. regulations for deliveries to its customers in China.

Alphabet Inc. decreased 0.01% to $140.21 after the company's Google agreed to settle a lawsuit sought by customers alleging that the search engine secretly tracked users browsing in private mode.

On February 5, 2024, the lawyers of both parties are expected to present settlement terms are expected to be presented to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California for his formal approval.

The lawsuit claimed to cover "millions" of users since June 1, 2016 and sought at least $5,000 damages per user for violating unauthorized federal wire tapping and privacy laws of California.