S&P 500 Inches Higher, Small-Cap Rally Stalls, Bitcoin Sinks: What's Driving Markets Thursday?
Benzinga
Published Dec 28, 2023 19:17
Updated Dec 28, 2023 20:40
S&P 500 Inches Higher, Small-Cap Rally Stalls, Bitcoin Sinks: What's Driving Markets Thursday?
Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Wall Street is navigating another quiet session characterized by low trading volumes in the post-holiday period. The S&P 500 index continues its gradual ascent toward retesting its all-time highs, edging up by just 0.1% as of midday trading in New York.
The Nasdaq 100 is mirroring this performance while achieving a significant milestone, boasting a 55% gain since the beginning of the year. This marks its best-performing year since 1999.
Blue-chip stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher. Small-cap stocks, on the other hand, are taking a breather. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) is down 0.3% after enjoying a 14% rise since the start of the month.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims have increased from 206,000 to 218,000, slightly surpassing the expected figure of 210,000.
Treasury yields have seen minor upticks of approximately 3 basis points across the yield curve. This modest increase has interrupted the fixed-income rally, causing the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) to decline by 0.6%.
Gold has remained relatively stable, priced at $2,075 per ounce, while crude oil, tracked by the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), has fallen by 1%.
In the crypto domain, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) suffers a 2.3% decline. This drop followed the news that Cathie Wood decided to offload her remaining shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), valued at around $200 million. Her move comes ahead of the highly anticipated approval of a Bitcoin ETF in January.
Thursday’s Performance In US Major Indices, ETFs/h2
| Dow Jones | 37,714.17 | +57.65 | 0.1% |
| S&P 500 | 4,788.32 | +6.74 | 0.1% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 16,921.52 | +14.72 | 0.1% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,062.25 | -0.57 | -0.3% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) is 0.1% higher to $477.04, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) is 0.1% higher to $377.01 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is holding steady at $412, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) outperforms, up by 0.5%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lags behind, down 0.8%.
Among industries, the Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE:TAN) gains 1%, while the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) falls 1.5%.
Get The App
Thursday’s Stock Movers/h2
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) rises 2.5%, leading gains among large-cap tech.
- Crypto-related stocks had a mixed reaction to the Bitcoin’s decline: Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) holds steady, Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT) rises 1.8%, while Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) fall 4% and 7%, respectively.
- Penn Entertainment (NYSE:PENN) rallies 7%, after leading shareholder hedge fund HG Vora Capital Management has sought the authority to nominate members to the company’s board of directors.
Read now: SPY ETF On Track For $500B Milestone, Boosted By S&P 500’s Peak Performance, Record Inflows In 2023
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Read the original article on Benzinga
Written By: Benzinga
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.