The stock market closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapping a five-day losing streak. The S&P 500 ended the day up 1.26% at 5,942.47, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% to 42,732.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 1.77% to close at 19,621.68.
Despite broad-based sell-off in December, vast majority of global indices closed 2024 in black across asset classes; U.S. large caps reigned supreme, with S&P 500 soaring 25% in 2024 despite December’s 2.4% drop; outside U.S., China was best-performing major equity market with… pic.twitter.com/DA17kFk2gC
— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) January 6, 2025
Editor's Take | India's underperformance in global markets: Could falling US tech stocks and a weakening dollar signal a turning point??
Tune in as @nikunjdalmia breaks down the global cues shaping market sentiment!#US #Dollar #Nvidia #TechStocks #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/ObEGArAGHF
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) January 8, 2025
Tech stocks were a standout performer, with chip giant Nvidia climbing 4.7% and server maker Super Micro Computer jumping 10.9%. Constellation Energy and Vistra also saw gains of 4% and 8.5%, respectively. Microsoft announced a significant investment in AI-enabled data centers for fiscal 2025, further boosting the tech sector.
Despite Friday’s rally, the major averages still finished the week lower. The S&P 500 ended the week down 0.48%, the Dow lost 0.60%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.51%. This means the anticipated “Santa Claus” rally failed to materialize.
Stocks To Watch | ?Ready, set, trade! Keep an eye on these stocks as they set the market abuzz #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/5srZYw6IE4
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) January 8, 2025
Ha: "Dow Jones futures rose Monday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and especially Nasdaq futures, on a report that President-elect Donald Trump is mulling tariff hikes only on critical imports." https://t.co/t0KgGtS6pi
— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) January 6, 2025
Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide Financial, noted that the lack of a typical end-of-year pullback suggests an orderly consolidation rather than the start of a painful period.
Tech stocks drive market gains
Some individual stocks moved on news out of Washington, D.C. Shares of U.S. Steel fell 6.5% after President Joe Biden said he would block the proposed acquisition by Nippon Steel.
Molson Coors shares declined 3.4% following a U.S. surgeon general advisory on the cancer risk related to alcohol consumption. A larger than usual share of S&P 500 companies are issuing negative fourth-quarter earnings guidance. According to FactSet senior earnings analyst John Butters, more than one-fifth of the companies have provided guidance, with 67% being negative.
UBS forecasted that the S&P 500 could rise more than 12% in 2025. David Lefkowitz, UBS’s chief investment officer of U.S. equities, expects the bull market to continue with the index reaching 6,600 by year-end. However, he also identified potential risks such as changes in trade policies, fiscal battles in Congress, inflation, and the outlook for artificial intelligence.
Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion on AI-enabled data centers in fiscal 2025, with more than half of that spending occurring in the U.S. The company’s shares last traded up more than 1% in Friday’s session. The S&P 500 saw a broad rally on Friday, with about 4 out of every 5 of its stocks advancing and all 11 sectors rising. The Energy sector led the market, climbing about 1% on Friday and up 3.3% for the week, according to FactSet.
Some standout performers included Marathon Oil, which rose 7.7%, and Devon Energy, which increased 8.7%.
