On Tuesday, Wall Street’s main stock indexes went up, thanks to strong gains from huge tech companies and other big stocks. This happened during a short Christmas Eve trading session. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained for four days in a row, while the S&P 500 saw its winning streak hit three days, kicking off what’s known as the “Santa Claus rally.”
Earlier this month, the Dow faced a rough patch, dropping for 10 straight sessions, its longest losing streak since 1974. In a time when many investors are on holiday, the performance of big companies can greatly influence stock indexes.
On Tuesday, all the famous tech stocks known as the Magnificent Seven went up, with Tesla leading the way, jumping by 7.4%. This was Tesla’s highest one-day gain in six weeks and boosted the consumer discretionary sector by 2.6%, the highest among all sectors. All 11 sectors in the S&P ended the day with gains.
Chip makers also did well, with Broadcom climbing by 3.2%, Nvidia by 0.4%, and Arm Holdings jumping 3.9%, recovering from recent losses due to a court case.
Despite U.S. Treasury interest rates staying high (the 10-year note was around 4.61%, its highest since May), growth stocks rose. Usually, higher borrowing costs are bad for these companies. But experts believe long-term tech advancements, like improvements in artificial intelligence, outweigh short-term interest rate concerns.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose by 65.97 points, about 1.10%, reaching 6,040.04 points. The Nasdaq Composite went up by 266.24 points, or 1.35%, closing at 20,031.13. The Dow Jones increased by 390.08 points, or 0.91%, finishing at 43,297.03. The stock markets closed early at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and will be closed for Christmas on Wednesday.
After a great run following November’s U.S. election, where hopes for business-friendly policies under President-elect Donald Trump were high, Wall Street faced challenges this month as investors worried about rising interest rates in 2025. While the Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs for the third time this year, they indicated only two more small cuts next year, as they consider how Trump’s policies might affect inflation.
Experts believe the reasons behind the market’s rise over the past two months are still strong, and Fed actions haven’t stopped the upward trend. Looking forward to 2025, the economic situation, consumer spending in the U.S., and the job market all look positive.
Crypto-related stocks also rose on Tuesday, with Microstrategy, Riot Platforms, and MARA Holdings increasing between 4.7% and 8.1%, as bitcoin prices also went up. New Health impressively soared by 75% after announcing plans for a $1.3 billion deal to become privately owned by its largest shareholder. American Airlines saw its shares increase by 0.6% after experiencing a rocky session when it temporarily grounded all its flights due to a technical issue.
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