“We continue to be surprised by the strength of market gains and decided yet again that something more than an incremental adjustment was warranted,” Belski said in the note. Belski increased his year-end S&P 500 price target to 6,100 from 5,600 last month, making him one of the most bullish strategists on Wall Street. Strategists at UBS increased their S&P 500 price targets in a note last week, expecting the S&P 500 to hit 6,300 by June 2025 and 6,600 at the end of next year.
Where the major averages stand heading into the final trading day of 2024
AppLovin is far and away the top gainer in the Nasdaq-100, with shares up more than 700%. MicroStrategy is the second-best performer, up more than 370% amid the rise in cryptocurrencies, while Palantir Technologies has surged nearly 350%. It has been a strong year for the S&P 500 — and some stocks are more to thank than others. Bank stocks in particular were one group that surged after the election, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs closing up about 41% and 48%, respectively, year to date. Shares of Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is a close ally of Trump, finished the year up more than 62%.
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Friday’s scheduled release of January U.S. retail sales data will show whether consumers will exceed spending expectations after December’s increase came in lower than expected. Wednesday’s scheduled release of CPI for January comes as price pressures have pointed higher in recent months, heightening inflation worries among Fed officials. Market watchers are also expected to get updated inflation readings for wholesale trade, along with import and export pricing data.
If the economy stays hot, the Fed could slow or even pause its easing cycle and spark a recalibration in markets that causes fresh volatility for stocks. “And for a lot of the time you had a 10-year Treasury yield that was very well behaved, along with earnings growth. So you got everything together at once that was going well.” Elevated valuations, unfounded expectations for more Fed rate cuts, and hype for AI that ultimately falls short of expectations could create a perfect storm for lower stock prices next year. A hot economy is a hurdle to aggressive rate cuts from the Fed and could cause markets to reprice expectations for interest rates through the rest of this year and into 2025.
For Investopedia, she reviewed the best finance books of the year, and for the British Medical Journal, she traveled to South Sudan to cover Guinea-worm eradication efforts spearheaded by the Carter Center. Whether it’s mastering cutting-edge strategies, uncovering actionable investment opportunities from influential leaders, or breaking down complex topics, our in-depth journalism has you covered. Become a Forbes member and Best gold etfs gain unlimited access to bold ideas shaking up industries, expert guides and practical investment advice that keeps you ahead of the market. The year 2025 brings with it excitement, uncertainty and, like every year, a time to reset. Goldman Sachs strategists said they’re bullish on the S&P 500 over the short term, forecasting 8% growth in earnings per share by the end of 2024 and 11% EPS growth the following year.
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While no details were given, Trump said that these are necessary to ensure “that we’re treated evenly with other countries,” according to Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.9%, meanwhile, and only the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite managed to finish higher, rising about 1.4% month to date. MongoDB and Biogen have slumped at least 40%, while Dexcom and Microchip Technology have shed at least 36% each.
Stocks making the biggest moves midday Friday
The second half of February typically markets a weak period for the S&P 500. UBS has a base-case scenario of “selective tariffs” and expects targeted and negotiation-driven tariff outcomes. “There are risks of a tit-for-tat ratcheting up of measures,” Marcelli wrote in a Friday note to clients. A chunk of the week’s advance came Thursday after Trump signed a memorandum on laying out a plan to impose levies on goods from countries with duties on U.S. products, instead of implementing immediate velocity trade tariffs.
- India’s benchmark Nifty 50 lost 0.82%, while the BSE Sensex index was down 0.83% in choppy trading as of 1.p.m.
- Among the top analysts at Wall Street banks, there’s some disagreement about whether all of the good news is priced in already or whether the market can continue to rise beyond already lofty valuations.
- Phillip Toews, CEO and portfolio manager at Toews Corporation, said a potential move above 5% for the 10-year yield is a risk for Wall Street entering the new year.
- Market breadth appeared solid in early trading Tuesday, a welcome change for investors after narrow leadership over the past few weeks.
- He’s also encouraged by the broadening out of the stock market rally, as it’s no longer concentrated in a handful of tech giants.
- The Stifel strategist Barry Bannister has warned investors about the prospect of a plunge in the stock market in 2025.
- With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com.
Other stocks on the move
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.79% lower at 39,149.43, while the broader Topix index lost 0.23% to close at 2,759.21. The S&P 500 opened just above flat shortly after market open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 0.1% lower. When the S&P 500 is 3% or higher on Feb. 14, the index has historically continued to rise for the rest of the year 93.8% of the time, with an average gain of 13.7% since 1950, the firm said. Dell shares were up more than 3% after Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the chipmaker was nearing a deal to sell servers with Nvidia chips to Elon Musk’s xAI. That being said, investors usually tend to “swipe left” on the market after Valentine’s Day.
- It’s called the December Low indicator, and it occurs when the S&P 500 closes below the December low close in the first quarter.
- The company’s fourth-quarter revenue of $966 million beat an LSEG estimate of $942.8 million.
- “Investors should consider allocating to other indices where we view the current landscape as favorable for strong forward performance,” strategists said, highlighting in particular the equal-weight S&P 500 and the mid-cap S&P 400 index.
- They raised their price target to $675 a share from $600, representing potential upside of 16% from the price of the stock at midday on Monday.
- The ICE U.S. Dollar Index enters the final day of December up 6.61% in 2024, which will mark the greenback’s third positive year in four.
- The iPhone maker reports on Thursday and is expected to unveil software and hardware updates this week, including access to highly anticipated Apple Intelligence features with the iOS 18.1 update.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) shares slid after the packaged food maker’s 2025 profit outlook https://www.forex-reviews.org/ fell short. But CVS Health (CVS) stock got a boost as investors welcomed a smaller drop in quarterly profit than expected. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) out Wednesday showed headline consumer inflation rose more than forecast in January. “Core” prices — which strip out the more volatile costs of food and gas — reversed the previous month’s easing, up 0.4% over last month and 3.3% over last year, with both rates higher than in December.
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A series of announcements helped push Apple’s stock 6% higher this week. “While it is an admirable goal to slash global arms and redirect funds to more productive uses, we see no realistic path. How would these leaders trust each other?” Bernstein analyst Douglas Harned said in a note to clients. The 10-year Treasury yield continued to slide Friday, recently dropping nearly 5 basis points lower to 4.478%.
Nucor’s short interest rose by $61 million over the past 30 days while Carpenter’s added $49 million. S3 says “the largest shorts in the worldwide Metals & Mining industry are dominated by steel stocks.” In addition to “calmed nerves” around Musk’s task force called the Department of Government Efficiency, he said the report showed a strong data center pipeline and growth either in line with or ahead of expectations. Some of the bricks the make up the wall of worry right now include the potential for a trade war following the Trump administration’s tariffs, an ever-growing government spending deficit, and uncertainty around the longevity of the AI tech trade. “Unfortunately, sometimes Mr. Market can lose his footing on the way up,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Business Insider. “Investors should consider allocating to other indices where we view the current landscape as favorable for strong forward performance,” strategists said, highlighting in particular the equal-weight S&P 500 and the mid-cap S&P 400 index.
Notably, the cryptocurrency topped $100,000 for the first time this year. The enthusiasm surrounding AI and its potential productivity boost helped power the major averages to a string of record highs throughout the year. AI chip darling Nvidia and iPhone giant Apple — members of the so-called Magnificent 7 — rose 171% and 30%, respectively, and notched new highs of their own in 2024.