[ad_1]
4 hours ago
The Dow and S&P 500 hit new highs even though the major averages closed little changed.
Although the three major averages ended the day almost flat, they still managed to record several milestones during the trading session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new intraday high, rising 0.28% to 37,801.90. The 30-stock index ended the day with a slight increase of 15.29 points (0.04%).
The S&P 500 hit a 52-week high of 4,798.50 (up 0.31%) on an intraday basis during trading. The broader market index was more subdued on the day, down 0.07%.
Finally, the Nasdaq Composite Index ended 0.54 points (0.004%) higher on Thursday, managing to snap its fifth consecutive session of positive trading.
— Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes
4 hours ago
Japan’s Topix index will outperform 6 out of 7 Magnificent stocks in 2024
Japanese stocks, which much of Wall Street favors going into 2024, have had a better year so far than all but one of the Magnificent Seven stocks in the U.S., at least when measured in local currencies. In January, the TOPIX index rose 4.92%, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 4.74%, and Nvidia was the only company leading the way with a 10.7% rise.
In fact, the TOPIX index has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 12 months, rising 33.9% versus the S&P 500’s rise of 22.5% over the same period, also on a local currency basis.
GMO, a Boston-based asset management firm founded by value investor Jeremy Grantham, said in a recent report that “supportive headlines about shareholder-friendly policymakers’ efforts and upside in corporate earnings have pushed stock prices higher. “It boosted the economy,” he wrote.
“We believe Japan is experiencing a lasting fundamental improvement and a lasting change in attitude towards shareholders,” GMO analysts Drew Edwards and John Thorndike wrote. Moreover, if, as GMO predicts, “the yen slowly returns to fair value, providing USD-based investors with a 4% tailwind,” international investors will benefit even more from currency effects. .
See chart…
Nikkei 225 index of Japanese stocks over the past 12 months.
4 hours ago
Major indexes heading for strong week
Despite little movement on Thursday, the three major indexes are looking to end the week higher with one trading session left.
The Dow is up 0.7% since the beginning of the week, while the S&P 500 is up 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which is heavy on tech stocks, outperformed, rising 3.1%.
— Alex Harring
4 hours ago
What inflation?Today’s CME increases the probability that the Fed will cut interest rates in March, May, and June.
Consumer price inflation in December exceeded expectations. But Wall Street shrugged its shoulders and decided in its infinite wisdom that the Fed was unlikely to accelerate the pace of rate cuts expected later this year.
Based on implicit probabilities derived from interest rate futures contracts calculated by the CME FedWatch tool, the probability that the federal funds rate will be cut by 0.5 percentage points to 5.00% to 5.25% at the central bank’s March meeting is from less than It rose to 70%. It was 65% on Wednesday and about 62% a week ago.
The odds that interest rates will fall by 0.5 percentage point to between 4.75% and 5.00% by the end of the Fed’s next May meeting rose from 53.4% on Wednesday and just 48.9% a week ago to nearly 65% on Thursday. The chance that interest rates will have fallen by just a quarter of a percentage point at the end of the May policy meeting has narrowed to 30.2% from 38.5% on Wednesday and 40.3% last week.
Implicit forecasts for June have also become more positive. The odds of interest rates being cut by three-quarters of a percentage point (4.5% to 4.75%) rose to 58.9% on Thursday from 53.2% on Wednesday and 47.2% last week. In fact, the probability that interest rates would even be cut by 1 percentage point by the end of the June meeting jumped to 13.5% on Thursday, from just 3% the day before.
— Scott Schnipper
4 hours ago
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF made $1 billion worth of trades on its first day
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw more than $1 billion traded on the exchange in its first day, according to Rachel Aguirre, head of U.S. products for iShares.
This is the highest amount among new Bitcoin funds, second only to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which previously traded over-the-counter and already held more than $28 billion in assets.
“Today’s transaction went very well and was done in a very orderly manner,” Aguirre said.
— Jesse Pound
5 hours ago
Stock futures little changed
Stock futures were little changed after 6pm ET. Futures tracking the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 all traded near the flatline.
— Alex Harring
[ad_2]
Source link