The S&P 500 rose to a new all-time high on Wednesday, closing slightly toward another record high.
The broad market index rose 0.32%, ending the session at 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 288.75 points, or 0.60%, and also posted a record close of 48,731.16. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.22% to end at 23,613.31.
Nike was among today’s gainers, rising 4.6% after Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed he had bought shares in the apparel maker. Micron Technology and Citigroup were also standouts, with shares up 3.8% and 1.8%, respectively, both hitting new session highs.
The stock was coming off a winning session, led by tech names including Google parent Alphabet, Nvidia, Broadcom and Amazon. The S&P 500 recorded a new record close of 6,909.79 points on Tuesday.
The moves came after the Commerce Department released its reading of US gross domestic product for the third quarter, which came in at 4.3%, beating the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 3.2%, SEEbiz reports. The report, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, initially led traders to lower their expectations of a rate cut early next year. However, trading in federal funds futures still points to two rate cuts by the end of 2026, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Investors are still hoping for the coveted Santa Clause, the year-end rally in stocks that occurs between the last five trading days of the year and the first two days of the new year. This year, it is from the opening of the stock market on December 24th to January 5th.
Thomas Martin of Globalt Investments predicts a “quiet” period until the end of the year due to lower trading volume. From 1:16 p.m. ET, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust traded just 38.7 million shares — the 30-day average volume is above 86 million, according to FactSet. However, Martin believes there is still some upside — enough for the S&P 500 to reach the 7,000 level.
“Could it go up 1% or 2% before the end of the year? Of course, that’s kind of the benchmark,” a senior portfolio manager told CNBC, noting that the market is already at record levels. “Do I expect some kind of stunning growth? No, because I don’t think we’re going to get any news that will.”
The New York Stock Exchange closed early Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Thursday for Christmas Day.
