4:05pm:
Wall Street surged on Friday, propelling both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to unprecedented closing highs.
The S&P 500 added 1.2%, culminating in a closing figure of 4,840 -- a new record close. Simultaneously, the Dow saw an uptick of just over 1%, finishing the day at 37,863.
On a percentage basis, the Nasdaq Composite, known for its tech-centric composition, emerged as the standout performer, recording a 1.7% increase to reach a closing figure of 15,310. It's worth noting that the Nasdaq's previous record close occurred in November 2021, standing at 16,057.
The spotlight has now shifted to Big Tech as a potential catalyst to revive a somewhat sluggish stock market, particularly with earnings for Tesla, Microsoft and Netflix due next week.
12:05pm: Stocks maintain momentum
US stocks continued to move higher at noon, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq with the S&P 500 on track to close at an all-time high level.
The Nasdaq had added 0.6% at 15,142 points, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% at 4,800 points and the Dow Jones was up 0.3% at 37,583 points.
XTB research director Kathleen Brooks noted that while stocks had been mixed this week, the US markets had absorbed the pushback in interest rate cut expectations well.
“Economic data has so far helped to boost sentiment and the S&P 500 is close to its all-time high of 4,796 from January 2022,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients.
Falling inflation expectations, as measured by the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey are also feeding the view that the US economy has started 2024 strong and that the disinflation trend is still intact even after the pickup in the consumer price index (CPI) in December, Brooks wrote.
9:45am: Stocks make bright start to trading
Stocks in New York opened higher as the tech-led rally continues as investors focus attention on the continued robust nature of the economy despite interest rate increases.
Shortly, after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25.08 points, 0.1%, at 37,493.69, the S&P 500 was up 7.17 points, 0.2%, at 4,788.11 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 58.35 points, 0.4%, at 15,114.00.
Matthew Martin at Oxford Economics said the odds of a recession have declined over the past several months because of a strong labour market, a deceleration in inflation, and looser financial conditions on the back of the impending Fed pivot to rate cuts.
“The Fed still needs to thread the needle and ensure monetary policy does not become too restrictive, but we believe the rebalancing of the labour market needed for the Fed to engineer a soft landing,” he added.
Stocks on the move include Insurance company Travelers which rose 5.0% after earnings topped forecasts but Ford is down 1.1% after cutting back production of its electric truck.
Wayfair has jumped 12% after announcing it will lay off 13% of its global workforce and Spirit Airlines has surged 20% after predicting revenue for the fourth quarter will be at the top-end of its earlier forecasts thanks to strong bookings.
The stock nosedived around 60% earlier in the week when the takeover by JetBlue was blocked.
7:00am: Tech-led rally expected to continue
US stocks are expected to open higher as Thursday's tech-led rally continues.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%, while those for the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.8%.
Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said the positive sentiment feeds off the gains seen throughout the US tech sector yesterday, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing citing a strong surge in demand for AI related chips.
“With all the concern around whether Nvidia has overrun on unrealistic expectations, the continued growth in demand does serve to highlight the fact that we actually have no idea how big this market could become as AI grows in importance,” he said.
Sentiment was also given a lift after Congress passed a bill to avert a partial government shutdown.
Stocks to watch include iRobot, down about 40% in pre-market trading, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the European Commission would likely reject Amazon’s bid to acquire the Roomba manufacturer.