4:05pm: S&P 500 inches towards record close
US stocks ended the day higher as the S&P 500 headed towards its closing record of 4,796.56 set in January 2022.
At the close, the Dow gained 111 points to 37,657, while the S&P 500 added 7 points at 4,782 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 25 points to 15,099.
"The market wants to get this done before the year is out," CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stoval said.
"That’s the overriding effort, but at the same time, once the market does set a new all-time high, it’s probably vulnerable to a post-high pause."
Notable movers included shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which rose nearly 2% following media reports that improvements to the electric vehicles maker’s Model Y are coming.
12:05pm: Stocks little changed at midday
US stocks traded flat to modestly higher at noon on Wednesday with a lack of market-moving events on the economic calendar.
The Dow Jones gained 0.2% or 75 points at 37,620 points while the tech-laden Nasdaq was flat at 15,079 points.
The S&P 500 was also flat at 4,777 points but remains on track to continue its best streak since 2004.
“We lean that markets will rally into year-end, given the strength of December already (up 5%),” Fundstrat analysts wrote in a note to clients, as reported by CNBC.
“Given the trailing performance of fund managers and the notion of ‘never short a dull market,’ we see the drift higher into the final days of 2023.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded slightly lower after the company, along with OpenAI, were sued by The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) which alleged that they used millions of the newspaper’s articles without permission to train AI models.
Microsoft shares were down 0.2% at US$374.
9:40am: Fed Rate cut speculation fuels optimism
US markets opened relatively subdued on Wednesday morning, but signs are pointing towards potential all-time highs before the end of the year.
At the open, the S&P 500 was up around 0.1% at 4,777 points, while the Dow Jones was flat at 37, 549 points. The Nasdaq had gained 0.2% at around 15,096 points.
The S&P 500 is on track for a seven-week winning streak, finishing Tuesday just 0.5% below the record high set early last year.
The prevailing speculation that the Federal Reserve might initiate rate cuts as early as March has propelled stocks to levels some technical analysts consider overbought. Market participants eagerly await key indicators, including an upcoming index of manufacturing sentiment and Thursday's unemployment claims, for additional insights into the economic and monetary-policy landscape.
S&P 500 buyers are determined to propel the index to a new high this week or the next, noted Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
However, market optimism appears stretched, and expectations of rapid Fed rate cuts might be excessive, according to Ozkardeskaya.
“The index was trading just 0.5% below its (all-time high) yesterday, so it would clearly be a shame if we finished this year without an S&P500 record, no?
“But yes, the market optimism is overstretched, the Fed’s rate cut expectations are unfunded – in that, yes, the Fed will probably cut rates but not at the speed that’s been currently priced in – the oversold market conditions do hint that a downside correction would be healthy. Once the Santa high fades, the hangover will hit.”
In movers, Coherus BioSciences (NASDAQ:CHRS) was up nearly 37% in premarket trading after the FDA greenlit its post-chemotherapy medication, designed to reduce infection risks.