- The Nasdaq hit a record high, driven by a surge in mega-cap tech stocks on Monday.
- The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points this week.
- Investors are eyeing November Core PCE data on Friday to gauge future Fed policy.
US stocks traded mostly higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite jumping more than 1% to an all-time high.
The gain in the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 was driven by a surge in mega-cap tech stocks, with shares of Tesla, Alphabet, and Broadcom all spiking in Monday’s session.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower, losing more than 100 points and cementing an eight-day losing streak.
The top event on investors’ radar this week is the Federal Reserve’s final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the year, which is expected to deliver a 25 basis point rate cut.
After the event, investors will watch the Friday morning release of the November Core PCE, which will help inform whether the Fed will continue cutting rates in early 2025.
“For the remainder of the month, these are really the 2 key macro data points,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said in a note on Monday.
While the Fed is expected to cut interest rates on Wednesday, Wall Street sees a growing likelihood that it will be a hawkish cut with a multi-month Fed pause going forward.
Recent commentary from Goldman Sachs, Yardeni Research, and Apollo solidified that view, with the main culprit being little progress in inflation in recent months, combined with the fact that the economy is strong.
“After a full 100bps of cuts since September 18, we expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell will use his press conference after the FOMC meets to signal that the Fed is on pause from further easing for now,” Yardeni Research said in a Sunday note.
Other economic data that will be released this week include US retail sales on Tuesday, housing starts and building permits on Wednesday, and revised third-quarter GDP on Thursday.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Monday:
Here’s what else happened today:
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 0.97% to $70.60 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was lower by 0.91% to $73.81 a barrel.
- Gold was slightly lower by 0.20% to $2,670.40 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 4.396%.
- Bitcoin increased 1.54% to $106,037.
