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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the closing bell on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
By Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar
(Reuters) -U.S. stocks rose marginally in light trading on the penultimate trading day of 2023, with the S&P 500 nearly reaching its all-time high and hopes for early interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year.
The benchmark index rose to as much as 4,793.30 points earlier in the session, coming within a whisker of breaching its January record close of 4796.56.
If it crosses the mark, that would confirm the bellwether index has been in a bull market after it hit the bear market closing trough in October 2022.
U.S. equities have managed to extend their rally into the final stretch of 2023, even in the absence of any major market moving catalysts. The three main indexes are on course for monthly, quarterly, and annual gains.
Optimism around early rate cuts, a possible soft landing for the American economy, and the artificial intelligence frenzy powered stellar gains on Wall Street this year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq is also on track to log its best year since 1999.
“I do think for the near term the momentum will continue to move this market higher,” said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments.
However, Fernandez pointed to risks in the longer term, saying “inflation will continue to fall, but probably not as quickly as the market is anticipating.”
Money markets have priced in an about 88% probability that policymakers will reduce the Fed funds target rate by at least 25 basis points at the conclusion of their March policy meeting, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) FedWatch tool.
The Labor Department’s report on Thursday indicated a weakening jobs market, supporting the rate-cut narrative. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 218,000 for the week ended Dec. 23, above expectations of 210,000 claims.
Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the green, led by healthcare.
The energy index was a laggard, sliding 0.9% as oil prices fell around 1% on easing concerns about shipping disruptions along the Red Sea route. [O/R]
At 11:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 35.48 points, the S&P 500 was up 4.89 points, and the Nasdaq was up 21.31 points.
Among individual stocks, U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies such as Alibaba Holdings, PDD Holdings and JD.Com Inc advanced between 1.4% and 4% as China’s blue-chip stocks staged their biggest jump in five months on strong foreign inflows.
CytoSorbents dropped 42.1% as the company’s device aimed at reducing bleeding during surgery did not meet the main goal of a study.