U.S. stocks end higher as Dow Jones hits another record high
U.S. stocks gained ground on Wall Street, continuing a strong bull streak that has brought seven straight weeks of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting another all-time high.
Having gained from last week's Fed-induced rally, eyes turn to this week’s economic data that could offer insights into the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy.
At the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading floor, the blue-chip index - Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat at 37,306.02 after most of a +0.2% gain faded into the close.
The broad-based Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added +21.37 points, or +0.45%, at 4,740.56, while the rich-tech Nasdaq Composite Index climbed +90.89 points, or +0.61%, to 14,904.81.
Shares of Chipmaker Nvidia rose +2.4%, Meta added +2.9%, and Netflix wrapped up a +3% gain, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms rose +2.9%, its highest close since December 2021.
Apple was an exception, falling -0.9% after the company said it would halt sales of its smartwatch to comply with an import ban related to a ruling that the device’s blood-oxygen sensor violated patents.
U.S. Steel soared +26% in other stocks after the company agreed to a $14.1 billion sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel. Shares of rival Cleveland-Cliffs rose +9.6% - The agreed figure was nearly double what rival Cleveland Cliffs offered just four months ago.
Photoshop maker Adobe rose +2.5% following an announcement that it is terminating its planned $20 billion buyout of Figma.
Although it's a quieter week on the economic data front, the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the November Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, will be the main attraction, scheduled to be released on Friday.
In the U.S. government bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and other economy-dictating loans, fell to 3.94%, while the policy-sensitive two-year yield, which tends to reflect the market expectations of future moves by the Fed, refreshed its March lows to 4.46%.
The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, Bitcoin, edged higher after changing hands within the parameters of US$40,544.00 to US$43,047.00 and last at US$43,018.00.
Meanwhile, Ethereum, the world’s second-largest blockchain by cryptocurrency market capitalization, advanced after changing hands within a daily range of US$2,116.00 to US$2,241,00 and last at US$2,234.00.
Precious metals were firmer against the greenback, with spot gold climbing to $2,025 per ounce and silver increasing to $23.90.
Energy markets were firmer, with the global benchmark Brent at $78.12 per barrel and the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $72.94.
The U.S. Dollar Index (U.S. DXY), which measures the greenback's strength against six counterparts on the foreign exchange markets, was weaker at 102.06.
Meanwhile, the Eurodollar was at 1.0910, and the British pound finished at 1.2652. The Japanese yen ended at 142.56, while the Australian dollar was firmer at 0.6708.
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