Markets digested recent gains ahead of Friday's long holiday weekend. While a better-than-expected read on the Fed's favorite inflation calibrate boosted bets for more interest rate cuts Next year, some bearish earnings news kept overall earnings in check.
When the closing bell rings, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 4,754. heavy technology Nasdaq Compound
All three benchmarks posted their eighth consecutive weekly gain. The S&P 500 hasn't enjoyed such a long weekly winning streak since late 2017. It's now down less than 1% in price terms since its record close on Jan. 3, 2022. For the Nasdaq and the Dow, these are the longer periods of that type. Weekly winning streaks since the beginning of 2019.
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On the economic front, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge rose only slightly in November and is, by some measures, close to the central bank's target. On a basic basis, which excludes volatile foods and energy costs The PCE index rose 0.1% last month versus October, and 3.2% year over year, the Office of Economic Analysis
Economists note that in six months, core PCE rose 1.9%, or below the Federal Reserve's long-term inflation target of 2%.
"Inflation continues to surprise on the downside: The Fed's preferred metric, the core PCE, rose just 0.1% month-over-month in November," says Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group
In individual stock news, Nike (OF ) shares fell 12% after the athletic footwear and apparel maker lowered its full-year forecast, citing a cautious consumer. Nike was by far the worst performer among the 30 stocks of the Dow Jones Friday.
Elsewhere, the actions of Western Oil (OXI ) got a boost after a regulatory filing showed that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio
Santa Claus Rally starts on Friday
The Santa Claus Rally, identified in the early 1970s by the creator of the Stock Trader's Almanac โ doesn't mean what many people think it means.
The Santa Claus Rally is not the time when stocks have a great December. If we go back to the 1920s, we'll see that December is usually the seasonally strongest month of the year for stocks anyway. Rather, the Santa Rally refers to the last five business days of the year, plus the first two business days of the new year.
"Historically, it turns out these seven days have been pretty joyous," writes Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. "No seven-day combo is more likely to be higher (up to 79.5% of the time), and only two combos have a better average return for the S&P 500 than the 1.32% average return over the period. official of the Santa Claus Rally".
The Santa Rally period began on Friday with a decent gain for the S&P 500. If history is any guide, market participants should also expect a happy new year.
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