The S&P 500 registered its 52nd record high of 2024, closing above the mark of 6,000, with gains of 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite too advanced 0.6% as most big tech, barring Tesla, gained in Tuesday’s trading session. The Dow Jones underperformed its peers, but closed with gains of over 120 points to end just shy of the 45,000 mark.
It must be noted that trading volumes remain thin ahead of the thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and an early close on Friday.
The S&P 500 has surged more than 25% in 2024, on track for a second year of returns above 20% — a run that’s occurred just four times in the past 100 years.
Deutsche Bank AG’s Bankim Chadha says the benchmark will hit 7,000 points by the end of next year, making him the most optimistic among Wall Street strategists predicting further gains for US stocks.
“We see steady robust momentum continuing into 2025, with earnings-per-share growth in the low double digits,” Chadha and his team wrote in a note dated Monday.
Meantime, Bank of America Corp.’s Savita Subramanian is counting on another year of double-digit gains for the S&P 500 in 2025 — but says even better opportunities are present in individual stocks outside the benchmark.
Her 2025 year-end target for the gauge is 6,666, and she recommends companies with healthy cash return prospects and tied to US economy. The strategist is overweight financials, consumer discretionary, materials, real estate and utilities.
US 10-year yields advanced two basis points to 4.30%. A dollar gauge gained 0.2%. The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar slid.
Wall Street shrugged off Trump’s plan to impose additional tariffs on the US’s top trading partners. Microsoft Corp. drove software companies higher amid the group’s lower susceptibility to tariff risks. While automakers like General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. were hit due to their exposure to Mexico and China, a slide in equity volatility showed calm prevailed.
Automakers Ford and General Motors, having exposure to both China and Mexico, slid around 2.6% and 9%, respectively. Alcohol company Constellation Brands known in part for Mexican beers Corona and Modelo, fell more than 3%.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo indicated on Tuesday that any new tariffs on her country would be met with retaliatory tariffs on exports from the U.S. to Mexico. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (EWW), which tracks a basket of equities tied to America’s southern neighbor, shed more than 2%.
Investors also analyzed minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting released Tuesday afternoon. The central bank said it anticipates interest rate cuts in the future, but to only expect them “gradually.”
(With Inputs From Agencies.)
