Stock market today: US stocks dip but end with a gain for the week after Fed-fueled rally
- US stocks dipped Friday but ended with a gain for the week after the Fed meeting kicked off a rally.
- Major averages gained for the week as the central bank indicated three rate hikes on tap this year.
US stocks dipped on Friday, but ended the week with a gain, bolstered by a two-day rally that kicked of Wednesday following the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The S&P 500 has rallied 2.3% in the past five days, with the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.7% and 1.6% respectively. The S&P 500 and the Dow each hit back-to-back record closing highs on Wednesday and Thursday.
Optimism in the week was fueled by dovish Fedspeak that came out of the central bank's March meeting. The FOMC's latest dot-plot has penciled in three interest-rate cuts for 2024, in line with traders' predictions per the CME FedWatch Tool.
Meanwhile, bitcoin ETFs saw their worst week since they debuted at the beginning of the year, recording four consecutive days of outflows totaling $836 million, per Fundstrat.
Here's where US indexes stood at the closing bell at 4:o0 p.m. on Friday:
- S&P 500: 5,234.18, down 0.14%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 39,475.90, down 0.77% (-305.47 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 16,428.82, up 0.16%
Here's what else is going on:
- Stock valuations mirror the extremes of 1929 and the market is at risk of a steep crash, legendary investor John Hussman said.
- "Bond King" Bill Gross warned of AI-driven "excessive exuberance" in stocks, and said he's not buying bonds either.
- Cathie Wood sees bitcoin going as high as $3.8 million.
- Alphabet is set to pop 15% as Google is a clear winner in AI, Wedbush said.
- An investment firm says these 2 parts of the market still have huge upside as it sees the best opportunity in 35 years.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil prices dipped, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.35% to $80.79 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, edged lower 0.27% to $85.55 a barrel.
- Gold dipped 0.9% to $2,165.90 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield fell five basis points to 4.218%%.
- Bitcoin dropped by 2.79% to $63,565.50.