US STOCKS-S&P 500 fades late and ends close to flat
28/12/2023 21:00
(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed
essentially unchanged on Thursday, retracing early gains just
before the close on the penultimate trading day of 2023.
All three indexes remained on track course for monthly,
quarterly, and annual gains.
"This is one of the best end-of-year rallies we've ever seen
and a lot of this rally happened before the Fed pivot in the
middle of December," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist
at Carson Group in Omaha.
"It’s a nice reminder of how far we've come from the depths
of the bear market last year and reminder to investors that dark
clouds happen, but the sun always comes out again," Detrick
added.
The S&P 500 continues to lurk a whisker below its record
closing high of 4,796.56 reached on Jan. 3, 2022.
Hitting a new record close would have confirmed confirm
the S&P 500 entered a bull market when it reached the bear
market closing trough in October 2022.
"Reaching new highs after two years could be a subtle sign
that economic strength could be in the cards for 2024," Detrick
said.
Data released early in the day, including jobless claims,
pending home sales and preliminary trade/inventories all painted
a picture of a softening but resilient economy.
This scenario has helped cement bets the U.S. Federal
Reserve might cut its policy rate sooner than expected and could
pull off a soft landing by avoiding recession.
At last glance, financial markets have priced in a 74.1%
probability policymakers will cut the Fed funds target rate by
25 basis points in March, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 2.30 points, or 0.05%, to end at 4,783.36 points,
while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 0.98 points, or 0.01%,
to 15,098.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 60.96
points, or 0.16%, to 37,717.48.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies, including Alibaba
Holdings BABA.K , PDD Holdings PDD.O and JD.Com Inc JD.O
advanced as China's blue-chip stocks staged their biggest jump
in five months.
CytoSorbents CTSO.O slid after the company's device aimed
at reducing bleeding during surgery failed meet the main goal of
a study.
Boeing BA.N fell after the planemaker urged airlines to
inspect newer 737 MAX airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the
rudder control system.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Shubham
Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by David
Gregorio)
((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6076;))