The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher Friday after a whipsaw session, where it marked a fresh intraday record, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 set a record close. All three major averages scored their seventh-straight winning week.
The Dow closed up 56 points, or 0.2%, at 37,305.16. The S&P 500 slipped 36 points, or 0.01%, to 4,719.19 while the Nasdaq Composite closed up 52 points, or 0.4% at 14,813.92. The Nasdaq-100 ended Friday at 16,623.45, topping a record close dating back to November 2021.
Price moves may have been exaggerated by the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures and options, as well as options on individual stocks, in the quarterly event known as “triple witching.
Shares of Costco closed up 4.5% after hitting an all-time high during the session. The retailer surpassed Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly results and issued a dividend of $15 per share.
As of Friday, the Dow is higher on the month by 3.8%. The S&P 500 is up by 3.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite has climbed 4.1% so far in December. The S&P 500 marked its longest weekly winning streak since 2017, and could still soon join the Dow with its own all-time high. The broad market index is less than 2% away from that mark, which was set in January 2022.
Wall Street rallied this week after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday admitted that its efforts to tamp down inflation are taking hold, and indicated three interest rate cuts are coming in 2024, buoying investor sentiment. The November retail sales data that came in stronger than expected on Thursday, following this week’s cooler inflation readings, added to hopes the Federal Reserve could navigate a soft landing.
That said, New York Fed President John Williams pushed back on the euphoria around the central bank easing rates next year. “We aren’t really talking about rate cuts right now,” Williams told CNBC’s Steve Liesman in an interview on Friday.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 1 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 67.00 US cents.
Commodities
Gold lost 0.45 per cent. Silver fell 0.95 per cent. Copper shed 0.05 per cent. Oil lost 0.21 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.95 per cent, Frankfurt closed flat, and Paris closed 0.28 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.87 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.38 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.56 per cent lower.
On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.88 per cent higher at 7,442.69.
Dividends payable
Orica Ltd (ASX:ORI)
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX:FPH)
Invex Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:IXC)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
