Big tech shares power Nasdaq to record high close. Bitcoin also climbs before Fed meeting
Another day, another rally by mega tech stocks.
Shares of iPhone maker Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, electric car maker Tesla and AI-chipmaker Broadcom all rallied to new all-time highs, which helped power the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its own record peak. The Nasdaq closed up 1.24%, or 247.17 points, at a record 20,173.89.
The broad S&P 500 index ended up 0.38%, or 22.99 points, at 6,074.08 and the blue-chip Dow slipped for an eight consecutive session for its longest streak of declines since 2018. It closed down 0.25%, or 110.58 points, at 43,717.48.
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which ends on Wednesday afternoon. Although the Fed's expected to trim its short-term, benchmark fed funds rate again by a quarter percentage point, many economists expect the central bank to signal a slower pace of rate cuts next year and revise its economic outlook.
"This could be the last cut for a while," said Jacob Channel, senior economist at comparison site LendingTree. "Because the upcoming Trump Administration’s policies might cause a resurgence in inflation or otherwise throw the economy off balance, the Fed might choose to take a wait-and-see approach and hold rates steady at their January meeting."
Winners and losers
The day's winners included:
Broadcom (AVGO): The chip software company extended its rally off its better-than-expected earnings report late Thursday and strong outlook. Shares are now up more than 120% for the year.
Bitcoin: The cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high above $107,000 after MicroStrategy said it bought an additional 15,350 bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 439,000, worth about $46 billion.
Companies with the largest declines included:
Super Micro Computer (SMCI): The AI server company said its auditor resigned this fall and its shares will be axed from the Nasdaq-100.
Nvidia (NVDA): The AI chip company's shares slipped, putting it officially into correction territory, traders said. Shares are down more than 10% from its closing high of $148.88 reached last month. Analysts said money's moving into other AI-related companies after Nvidia's 166% run up this year.
Elsewhere around the markets
Oil fell 1% to $70.58 per barrel after China reported soft retail sales data.
The 10-year Treasury yield dipped to 4.397% ahead of an expected Fed rate cut.
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at Paste BN. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.