4:12pm: Dow hits record intraday high
The Dow closed Friday up 57 points, 0.2%, at 37,305, the Nasdaq Composite added 52 points, 0.4%, to 14,814 and the S&P 500 declined less than 1 point to 4,719. The small-cap Russell 2000 index slid 15 points, 0.8%, to 1,985.
The Dow managed to hit another all-time intraday high, and the three major indexes each marked their seventh-consecutive winning week.
However, Friday was a little cooler than Wednesday and Thursday, which saw larger gains on optimism that interest rate cuts are coming in 2024.
“Stocks got a major sentiment boost from Wednesday’s Fed meeting, but that immediate effect was bound to wear off,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade. “The market doesn’t go up every day, no matter how strong a trend is. Pullbacks and pauses are inevitable, regardless of how big they are or how long they last.”
12:05pm: S&P 500 on track for seven-week winning streak
US stocks were higher in noon trading as the Federal Reserve fueled Santa Claus rally continues.
At midday, the Dow rose 20 points to 37,268, while the S&P 500 added a single point at 4,720 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 68 points to 14,829.
"What we heard from Fed Chair Powell was that it’s not about the economy, it’s not about financial conditions, it’s not about the jobs market. It’s about inflation and inflation has been coming down pretty far and fast," iCapital chief investment strategist Anastasia Amoroso said.
Notable movers included shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), which rose 4% after the consumer bulk items retailer’s quarterly results beat estimates and the company issued a special dividend of $15 per share.
9:40am: Markets mixed as Fed official pushes back on early rate cut hopes
Stocks opened lower as a leading Federal Reserve official pushed back on hopes that an early cut in interest rates was on the way.
Shortly after the opening, the Dow Industrial Average was down 81.43 points, 0.2%, at 37,166.92, the S&P 500 was down 10.66 points, 0.2%, at 4,708.89 although the Nasdaq Composite was up 40.64 points, 0.3%, at 14,802.20.
John Williams, president of the Fed’s New York branch said: “We aren’t really talking about rate cuts right now,” but instead are still focused on whether rates are high enough to ensure that inflation would fall to the 2%.
“One thing we’ve learned even over the past year is that the data can move and in surprising ways, we need to be ready to move to tighten the policy further, if the progress of inflation were to stall or reverse,” Williams said, adding it’s “premature to be even thinking about March cuts.”
Neil Wilson at Markets.com said the comments signal the Fed was not entirely at ease with the degree to which the market swallowed the ‘pivot’.
“They’d maybe thought of it more of a leaning in rather than a volte face,” he added.
The comments saw the dollar push higher and bond yields rise.
7:00am: S&P on track for 7th winning week in a row
Stocks futures are pointing higher once more as the Federal Reserve’s rate pivot continues to bring frestive cheer to the equity market.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%, while those for the S&P 500 were 0.2% higher and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.2%.
Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank noted Thursday saw the S&P 500 post its 6th consecutive advance, which left the index at a fresh all-time high in total return terms.
It also means the index is still on track for a 7th consecutive weekly advance, which would be the first time that’s happened since 2017, he pointed out.
The Dow is also on pace for a nine-week winning streak, its longest run since 2019.
Stocks to watch include Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), up 1.5% in pre-market trading after the company’s first-quarter sales topped expectations.
The bulk retailer posted revenue of $57.8 billion, up 6.2% year over year and above expectations of $57.72 billion. Membership fee revenue increased 8.2% to $1.08 billion.
Net income was $3.58 per share, compared to $3.07 per share a year earlier.