Wall Street kicked off the Santa Claus Rally season on a positive note, with all major indexes and sectors closing higher in a shorter session ahead from the Christmas holidays.
The S&P 500 climbed 1%, extending its gains for a third straight session following last week's volatile Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3%, nearly erasing last week's losses.
Consumer discretionary stocks, the year's best-performing sector, led the rally amid light trading volumes. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) increased by 7.35%, marking its strongest one-day performance since November.
Other standout performers in the S&P 500 included Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SEX), a Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), up 2.4%, 2.8% and 2.5% respectively.
The US dollar index showed modest gains, with the greenback hovering near a one-year high against the euro. Treasury yields remained stable, with the 10-year benchmark at 4.6%, the highest level since May.
In commodities, gold margin was up 0.4%, while oil prices rose 0.7%.
Risk appetite returned to the cryptocurrency market following recent volatility, as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) jumped 4% to over $98,000. This rally buoyed crypto-related stocks, incl Microstrategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), MARA Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA), a Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), all posting notable gains.
|
Major Indexes |
Price |
1-day %chg |
|
Nasdaq 100 |
21,771.80 |
1.3% |
|
S&P 500 |
6,032.64 |
1.0% |
|
Russell 2000 |
2,254.99 |
0.8% |
|
Dow Jones |
43,239.42 |
0.8% |
Updated at 1:00 pm ET
Back Benzinga Pro data:
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The SPDR Trust S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:Spies) rose 1.1% to $601.01.
-
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:THEN) rose 0.8% to $432.44.
-
The technology-heavy Invesco Trust Series QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 1.3% to $529.94.
-
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 1% to $223.46.
-
The Consumer Discretionary Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) performed better, up 2.3%; the Utility Sector Select SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) lagged, up 0.5%.
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