Record-breaking Friday: Dow Jones and Nasdaq-100 soar to new heights

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher Friday after a whipsaw session, where it marked a fresh intraday record, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 set a record close. All three major averages scored their seventh-straight winning week.

The Dow closed up 56 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 37,305.16. The S&P 500 slipped 36 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 4,719.19 while the Nasdaq Composite closed up 52 points, or 0.4 per cent at 14,813.92. The Nasdaq-100 ended Friday at 16,623.45, topping a record close dating back to November 2021.

Price moves may have been exaggerated by the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures and options, as well as options on individual stocks, in the quarterly event known as “triple witching.

Shares of Costco closed up 4.5 per cent after hitting an all-time high during the session. The retailer surpassed Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly results and issued a dividend of $15 per share.

As of Friday, the Dow is higher on the month by 3.8 per cent. The S&P 500 is up by 3.3 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite has climbed 4.1 per cent so far in December.

The S&P 500 marked its longest weekly winning streak since 2017, and could still soon join the Dow with its own all-time high. The broad market index is less than 2 per cent away from that mark, which was set in January 2022.

Wall Street rallied this week after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday admitted that its efforts to tamp down inflation are taking hold, and indicated three interest rate cuts are coming in 2024, buoying investor sentiment. The November retail sales data that came in stronger than expected on Thursday, following this week’s cooler inflation readings, added to hopes the Federal Reserve could navigate a soft landing.

In commodity-related news, oil prices experienced a modest weekly gain despite a slight drop on Friday, as a weaker dollar and an improved 2024 demand outlook helped recover from recent losses. The West Texas Intermediate contract for January settled down 0.21 per cent, while the Brent contract for February decreased by 0.08 per cent. This marked the first positive turn in crude prices following seven consecutive weeks of declines.

Turning to US sectors, Tech, Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services were the only sectors that closed higher overnight. Utilities was the worst performer.

Turning to the Australian landscape, Ausbil, owning 3.3 per cent of Allkem, opposes the $16 billion Allkem-Livent merger, favouring Allkem's ASX listing for growth and claiming the merger ratio is unfair. Unlike past cases, there is no major shareholder blocking the deal, with the vote set for next week.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 1 per cent fall.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 67.00 US cents.

Commodities

Gold lost 0.45 per cent. Silver fell 0.95 per cent. Copper shed 0.05 per cent. Oil lost 0.21 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.95 per cent, Frankfurt closed flat, and Paris closed 0.28 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.87 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.38 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.56 per cent lower.

On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.88 per cent higher at 7,442.69.

Dividends payable
Orica Ltd (ASX:ORI)
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX:FPH)
Invex Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:IXC)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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