Closing Stock Market Summary
The three major indices closed near their highs of the day. The S&P 500 logged a 0.6% gain and turned positive for the year; the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a 0.5% gain; and Nasdaq Composite registered a 0.8% gain.
Mega cap stocks boosted index level gains. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) gained 1.2%. Apple (AAPL 186.19, +1.05, +0.6%) had been down as much as 0.7%, but managed to close with a gain despite another analyst downgrade from Redburn Atlantic, which cut its view to Neutral from Buy.
Meta Platforms (META 370.47, +13.04, +3.7%) and NVIDIA (NVDA 543.50, +12.10, +2.3%) were among the top standouts in the mega cap space, helping to offset modest weakness in Tesla (TSLA 233.94, -1.02, -0.4%).
The aforementioned stocks boosted their respective S&P 500 sectors, which closed with the largest gains among the 11 sectors. The health care sector (+0.4%) was another winner, along with the industrial sector (+0.5%). Meanwhile, the energy sector (-1.0%) saw the largest decline by a decent margin, sliding alongside oil prices. WTI crude oil futures fell 1.0% to $71.41/bbl.
There was a general lack of conviction from either buyers or sellers today. Declining issues had a slim lead over advancing issues at the Nasdaq while advancers led decliners by a 5-to-4 margin. The equal-weighted S&P 500 logged only a 0.2% gain today.
The muted price action under the surface was due to a wait-and-see mindset ahead of the results from today's $37 billion 10-yr note auction, an afternoon speech from New York Fed President Williams (FOMC voter) on the economic outlook, Thursday's release of the December Consumer Price Index, and earnings reports out of the banking industry before Friday's open.
The 10-yr note reopening was met with decent demand, but the market was more responsive to the remarks from Mr. Williams, who said in a speech that he thinks the Fed will need to maintain a restrictive policy stance for some time.
The major indices all pulled back from session highs, which had the S&P 500 within six points of its all-time closing high (4,796.56), in response to Mr. Williams' comments.
Treasuries settled little changed from yesterday. The 2-yr note yield fell two basis points to 4.36% and the 10-yr note yield rose one basis point to 4.03%.
- S&P 500: +0.3%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: UNCH
- Nasdaq Composite: -0.3%
- S&P Midcap 400: -1.6%
- Russell 2000: -2.8%
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index 9.9%; Prior -9.4%
- November Wholesale Inventori); Prior was revised to -0.3% from -0.4%
Thursday's economic calendar features:
- 8:30 ET: December Consumer Price Ind consensus 0.2%; prior 0.1%) and Core Consumer Price In consensus 0.2%; prior 0.3%); Weekly initial jobless claims ( codex 209,000; prior 202,000) and continuing claims (prior 1.855 million)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories (prior -14 bcf)
- 14:00 ET: Treasury Budget (prior -$314.0 billion)