Mega-cap tech leads US stocks higher as Dow Jones hits another record high
- Mega-cap tech stocks led the market higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones hitting a fresh record.
- Investors are closely watching interest rates after the Fed made a dovish pivot last week.
- Stocks are coming off seven consecutive weekly advances amid hopes for an imminent rate cut.
Mega-cap tech stocks led the market higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting another all-time high.
Shares of Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Amazon all surging about 3%. The gains come as investors closely monitor interest rates following the Federal Reserve's dovish pivot last week, when stocks notched their seventh consecutive weekly gain.
The US 10-year Treasury yield ticked up but remained below 4% Monday, after diving nearly 30 basis points over the past week. The sharp decline came after the Fed signaled that rate cuts are more likely than hikes in 2024.
It's a quiet week on the economic data front, with the November PCE deflator the most important report, set to be released on Friday.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Monday:
- S&P 500: 4,740.56, up 0.45%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 37,306.02, up less than 0.01% (0.86 point)
- Nasdaq Composite: 14,904.81, up 0.61%
Here's what else happened today:
- Adobe called off its plans to acquire Figma for $20 billion after the deal met intense scrutiny from regulators in Europe.
- A period of disinflation will spark the Fed to cut interest rates five times in 2024, according to a recent note from Goldman Sachs.
- It's been a horrible year for cannabis stocks, with the MJ PurePlay 100 Index falling 14% year to date, compared to a 23% gain for the S&P 500.
- Goldman Sachs boosted its 2024 year-end S&P 500 price target by 9% just one month after initially forecasting a flat stock market for next year.
- Billionaire investor David Rubenstein said don't expect an economic recession just because the Fed might soon cut interest rates.
- Goldman Sachs said Eli Lilly stock could more than double from current levels to a $1.2 trillion valuation as millions of people take its GLP-1 weight loss drug.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 1.62% to $72.94 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.99% to $78.07 a barrel.
- Gold climbed 0.24% to $2,040.50 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 3.95%.
- Bitcoin edged higher by 1.32% to $41,894.