Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Heads Toward Its First Gain Since Christmas Eve
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
January 3, 2025

Lights marking the entrance to a subway station frame the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP/Peter Morgan)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK — The S&P 500 may be heading for its first gain since Christmas on Friday.

The main gauge of Wall Street’s health rose 0.6% in morning trading and was on track to break a five-day losing streak, its longest since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 153 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher.

Nvidia helped drive the market higher, despite criticism that prices for it and other tech companies have vaulted too high in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia rose 3.9% and was the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward.

“While the easy gains in AI may be behind us, we think this rally looks far from over,” according to Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer, Americas, at UBS Global Wealth Management.

Tesla Rose After the Tumble

Another influential Big Tech stock, Tesla, rose 1.6% to recover some of its 6.1% tumble from the day before, when it disclosed it delivered fewer electric vehicles in the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected.

Rival Rivian jumped 16.1% after saying it delivered more than 14,000 vehicles during the last three months of 2024. That was more than analysts expected.

On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 6.4% after President Joe Biden blocked a nearly $15 billion deal proposed by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy its Pittsburgh-based rival.

Beer, wine and liquor companies sank after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned about the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. He called for an update on the health warning label on alcoholic drinks, as well as for a reassessment of guidelines for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk.

Molson Coors Beverage fell 2.5%. Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine, dropped 1.2%.

US Economy Managed to Keep Growing

Wall Street’s pullback over the last week has dimmed its shine by only a bit following two stellar years for U.S. stock indexes. They’ve vaulted to records after the U.S. economy managed to keep growing despite high interest rates that have helped bring high inflation nearly all the way down to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

But even though the economy and job market look to remain remarkably solid at the moment, the path ahead is not assured. Part of the reason the S&P 500 set more than 50 all-time highs last year was because of the expectation that the Fed would keep cutting interest rates through 2025 after beginning to ease the pressure on the economy in September.

But traders are ratcheting back expectations for coming cuts. Inflation is proving to be stubborn as the Fed tries to wring the last percentage point of improvement for its 2% inflation goal. Worries are also rising that tariffs and other policies coming from President-elect Donald Trump could put further upward pressure on inflation. All the while, critics also say U.S. stock prices simply look too expensive after rising so much faster than corporate profits.

The threat of Trump’s tariffs has also hurt stock markets overseas. For China, it’s compounded worries about the world’s second-largest economy, which is already contending with a struggling property market and other challenges.

Stocks tumbled 1.6% in Shanghai to bring their loss for the week to 5.6%, though they climbed 0.7% in Hong Kong to trim their weekly loss below 2%. European stock indexes also fell.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.8% after the acting president and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, promised to to do more to stabilize the economy. The country is in the midst of a political crisis that has seen two heads of state impeached in under a month.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report said U.S. manufacturing is not as weak as economists expected.

The report from the Institute for Supply Management showed another month of contraction for manufacturers, but it wasn’t as severe as feared. Manufacturing has been one of the areas of the economy hit hardest by the high interest rates of recent years.

The 10-year Treasury yield held at 4.56%, where it was late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, edged down to 4.24% from 4.25%.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

DON'T MISS

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

DON'T MISS

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

DON'T MISS

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

DON'T MISS

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

DON'T MISS

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

DON'T MISS

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

DON'T MISS

Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap

DON'T MISS

Giants Beat the Slumping Braves in 10 Innings on a Wild Pitch

UP NEXT

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

UP NEXT

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

UP NEXT

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

UP NEXT

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

UP NEXT

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

UP NEXT

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

UP NEXT

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

UP NEXT

Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap

UP NEXT

Giants Beat the Slumping Braves in 10 Innings on a Wild Pitch

UP NEXT

Trans Troops, Facing a Deadline, Opt to Stay and Fight the Ban

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

2 hours ago

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

2 hours ago

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

8 hours ago

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

8 hours ago

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

8 hours ago

Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap

8 hours ago

Giants Beat the Slumping Braves in 10 Innings on a Wild Pitch

8 hours ago

Trans Troops, Facing a Deadline, Opt to Stay and Fight the Ban

10 hours ago

Can This 14-Year-Old Football Star Become a High School Millionaire?

10 hours ago

Trump EPA Moves to Roll Back Rules Projected to Save Billions of Dollars and Thousands of Lives

10 hours ago

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

BEDMINSTER, New Jersey – Donald Trump said on Saturday his relationship with his billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned there ...

39 minutes ago

39 minutes ago

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

1 hour ago

Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

2 hours ago

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

2 hours ago

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

2 hours ago

Riot Police, Anti-ICE Protesters Square Off in Los Angeles After Raids

8 hours ago

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

8 hours ago

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title

8 hours ago

Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend