Push and pull between the global central banks and equity markets continued on Tuesday too as recent comments from the US Fed supported the movement of equities. All the 3 US indexes closed higher, despite some analysts expecting that rate cuts might not happen until 2H24. S&P 500 ended higher on Tuesday, with the index touching its record high, as US Fed’s remarks have recovered the investors’ confidence. This index was up by ~0.59% to end at ~4,768.37 levels. With this gain seen on Tuesday, S&P 500 is ~0.6% from exceeding record close and ~1% from touching its intraday record, both of which were made in the month of January 2022.
Since US indexes closed higher, Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an increase of ~251.90 points, or 0.68%, to end at ~37,557.92 levels. Nasdaq Composite went up by ~0.66% to 15,003.22 and this was the first time tech-heavy index ended above 15,000 level since January 2022 month. Finally, Nasdaq 100 saw an increase of ~0.49% to 16,811.85, making all-time intraday and closing highs.
Coming to the performance of individual stocks, Walgreens Boots Alliance was tagged as the best performer in Dow Jones, with its shares increasing by ~4.2%. Meanwhile, stocks from the solar sector, like Enphase Energy and First Solar, were seen making advances in S&P 500. They were up by ~9% and ~4%, respectively. Occidental Petroleum shares saw an increase of ~2.3%, with Halliburton and Exxon Mobil shares each going up by over 1%.
Stocks are on full-on rally mode as of late, as previous week’s indication about the 3 likely interest rate cuts from US Fed in 2024 gave the needed push. Apart from these indications, signs of cooling inflation and fall in Treasury yields have helped the equities. To add to this momentum, this season has always been the best one for equities.
Coming to the Indian markets, equity benchmarks touched new highs on December 19 amidst the significantly volatile session. Indices have erased some of earlier session’s losses to close the day with marginal gains. By day’s end, Sensex increased by ~122.10 points, or 0.17% to sit at ~71,437.19, and Nifty increased ~34.40 points, or 0.16% to ~21,453.10.
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