The Latest Stock Market Updates: Dow Jones Reaches Two-Year High

2023-12-11 22:15:49

(Photo: Getty Images)

MARKET REVIEW. The New York Stock Exchange recorded another positive session on Monday, pushing the Dow Jones to its highest closing level in almost two years, on a market which is awaiting the meeting of the American central bank (Fed) quite calmly.

The Toronto Stock Exchange closed slightly lower. Losses in resource stocks offset gains in the financial sector.

To (re)consult market news

Stock market indices at closing

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX closed down -13.18 points (-0.06%) at 20,318.36 points.

In New York, the S&P 500 gained +18.07 points (+0.39%) to 4622.44 points.

The Nasdaq increased by +28.51 points (+0.20%) to 14,432.49 points.

The DOW gained +157.06 points (+0.43%) to 36,404.93 points.

The loon advanced +US$0.0005 (+0.0737%) to US$0.7369.

The oil ended up +US$0.23 (+0.32%) at US$71.46.

L’or fell -US$17.10 (-0.85%) to US$1997.40.

The bitcoin decreased by -US$2942.98 (-6.69%) to US$41,054.25.

The context

Although remaining on six consecutive weeks of gains, the indices managed to put in an additional boost, while many were expecting a consolidation.

The Dow Jones ended at a high since the beginning of January 2022, the S&P 500 since the end of March 2022.

“That says something about the state of the market,” commented Maris Ogg, an analyst at Tower Bridge Advisors. “It remains on an upward trend.”

“We’re starting a new week and the momentum is still there,” added Art Hogan, analyst at B. Riley Wealth Management. “The market is cautiously optimistic ahead of events that will be catalysts.”

This analyst was referring to the publication of the CPI price development index for November in the United States, which will be published on Tuesday, and to the Fed’s communication, expected on Wednesday.

The New York market’s stubbornness to climb “is due to the fact that investors are not expecting any surprises from the Fed,” underlined Sam Stovall, CFRA analyst.

“They know that she is done raising rates and now the only question is when they will lower them,” he continued.

Operators are counting on five reductions in the key rate in 2024, the first in May.

The bond market stabilized on Monday after a roller coaster week. The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.23%, compared to 4.22% at Friday’s close.

On the stock market, for once, the giant capitalizations of the technology sector were subject to profit taking, while the Nasdaq was supported by the rest of the values in the index.

Among them, the semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom (AVGO, +9.00% to US$1,029.24), which benefited from a favorable opinion from Citigroup.

Its competitors AMD (AMD, +4,26% à 134,41$US), Intel (INTC, +4.31% to US$44.54) or Qualcomm (QCOM, +2.35% to US$136.10) also had the wind at their backs.

Conversely, Nvidia (NVDA, -1.85% to US$466.27), Meta (-META, 2.24% to US$325.28) and Alphabet (GOOGL, -1.26% to US$133.29) finished in the red.

In addition to profit-taking, this rotation is also due to speculation that the weighting of technological “mega caps” will be revised downwards during the quarterly review of the Nasdaq index on Monday, according to Art Hogan.

Investors would thus carry out portfolio rebalancing before maturity, according to the analyst.

More generally, Wall Street could have completed its traditional end-of-year surge in advance, with the last weeks being devoted to arbitrage, noted Maris Ogg.

On the table of values, Macy’s soared (M, +19.44% to US$20.77), after the Wall Street Journal reported a takeover offer for the department store chain by two investment companies, Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management.

The information benefited Macy’s rivals, especially Nordstrom (JWN, +7.16% to US$17.52) and Kohl’s (KSS, +7.02% to US$26.38).

Occidental Petroleum (OXY, +1.04% to US$57.06) capitalized on the announcement of the acquisition, for 12 billion US dollars (US$G), of the oil and gas group CrownRock, very present in the Permian basin, first shale oil reserve in the United States.

The health insurer Cigna jumped (CI, +16.68% to US$301.97), in reaction to information from the Wall Street Journal according to which the Bloomfield (Connecticut) group has abandoned the acquisition of its competitor Humana (HUM, -1.04% to US$476.61). A transaction that would have united two behemoths with a total capitalization of more than US$135B. Cigna also announced a US$10B share buyback program.

Nike (NKE, +2.33% to US$118.61) was supported by an increase in recommendation from Citigroup, which anticipates a recovery in the sports equipment manufacturer’s margins and is counting on the Olympic Games to create momentum in 2024.