Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq steady, bitcoin slumps after Christmas break

By Investor Empires On Dec 26, 2024

US stocks were little changed on Thursday as trading resumed after the Christmas holiday and Wall Street digested one of the only significant economic data points of the week.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell slightly, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) hovered near the flat line. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) flipped between positive and negative territory.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell, hovering near the $96,000 level as choppy trading continued. Cryptocurrency-related stocks like MicroStrategy (MSTR) tracked the declines.

Markets appeared to be struggling in an attempt to extend the start of the “Santa Claus March” that started strong on Tuesday. All three major indexes rose by about 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite moved within close range of their records after regaining gains from last week’s Fed-fueled decline.

As Wall Street returns from its holiday break, the normally routine release of weekly unemployment claims has garnered more attention as the only piece of the jobs puzzle on the docket this week.

According to the latest Labor Department data, weekly unemployment claims fell to 219,000 compared to expectations of 223,000. However, continuing claims indicated a slowing labor market, jumping by 46,000 in the week ending December 14 to 1.91 million, the highest level since November 2021.

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GameStop rises on mysterious “Roaring Kitty” tweet.

GameStop (GME) stock rose as much as 10% early Thursday before paring gains. Shares were up nearly 6% at midday.

The stock’s gains come after popular stock trader “Roaring Kitty” — whose real name is Keith Gill — He posted a mysterious photo of a wrapped gift On December 25th.

GME’s rise on Thursday puts the stock on track for a roughly 16% gain over the past five days. The stock will rise more than 88% in 2024, fueled by… Roaring Kitty returns to social media After three years of silence.

However, GameStop shares remain well below their all-time highs of over $80 during the stock’s 2021 short squeeze.
Dow Jones erases early session losses, flips into positive territory

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) erased early session losses by 11:30 a.m. ET.

Shares of Honeywell (HON) and Boeing (BA) rose more than 1%, helping to lift the blue-chip index slightly above the flat line.

Apple (AAPL) hit intraday highs after a price target was raised to a street high of $325 from Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) trimmed early morning losses to trade just below the flat line.
Apple stock hit intraday highs after a nod of confidence from Wall Street

Apple (AAPL) stock reached an all-time high intraday Thursday after a nod of confidence in its continued rise from Wall Street.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target on Apple shares to a new high of $325, predicting a “golden age of growth” for the Tim Cook-led tech giant in 2025.

Apple shares touched $260 early Thursday before paring gains modestly. The stock was still on track for another record close after hitting a high of $258.20 on Christmas Eve. Shares are up more than 11% over the past month, and the iPhone maker is approaching a market cap of $4 trillion.

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Nvidia stock fell 1%, with the rest of the “Mag 7” stocks fluctuating.

Shares of AI chip heavyweight NVDA fell more than 1%, while shares of the rest of the Magnificent Seven fluctuated on Thursday.

Technology stocks led the market’s modest declines as the “Santa Claus rally” stalled from Wednesday after the Christmas holiday.

Shares of iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and Google’s parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) flipped between positive and negative territory during morning trading.
From Microsoft to Nvidia, AI customers are coming in 2025

Dan Hawley of Yahoo Finance says:

If 2024 is the year that AI chatbots become more useful, then 2025 will be the year that AI agents start taking over. Autonomous and semi-autonomous AI systems You can think of agents as super-powerful AI bots that can take actions on your behalf, such as pulling data from incoming emails and importing them into different applications.

You’ve probably heard customers complaining already. Companies ranging from Nvidia (NVDA) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) to Microsoft (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) are increasingly talking about agentic AI, which is a fancy way of referring to AI agents, claiming that it will change the way both organizations and businesses do business. Consumers are thinking about AI technologies.

Read more here.
Stocks fell, bringing Santa Claus’s march to a halt

Stocks opened lower on Thursday after the Christmas holiday, bringing Santa Claus’s rally to a halt.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost 0.4%, leading the way lower.

All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 index fell, with real estate stocks falling.
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