The S&P 500 index reaches its highest level: Bets on a rate cut and a rise in technology stocks led Wall Street to end Friday trading sessions at its highest level ever.
The rise in shares of the most influential technology companies in the S&P 500 index led to the index rising
to its highest level ever in two years, as the index exceeded the level of 4,800 points.

Topics

Friday performance

S&P 500 Index

Magnificent Seven

US Stocks

Stocks expectations

Market Movement

Friday performance

Stocks rose on Friday as lower volatility in Treasury prices continued to suggest risk appetite on Wall Street.
The sentiment was also lifted slightly by what many described as a “Fed-friendly” report
that showed a combination of rising consumer confidence and falling inflation expectations.
“As inflation eases in 2024, there is a lot more good news than bad in terms of economic fundamentals,” Art Hogan at B Riley Wealth.
“We see a possible path to a gradual and sustained decline in inflation,
an end to Fed rate hikes, and further acceleration of economic growth in the second half of 2024.”

S&P 500 Index

After hitting its lowest point in October 2022, the S&P 500 index rose 35% to its highest level in history, reaching 4,796.5 points.
If we look at the history of the index, it is possible that the index could see larger gains.
The index had logged 512 trading days through Thursday without setting a record, the sixth-longest winning streak since 1928.
According to Ned Davis Research, the index recorded 13 gains in 14 trading sessions, a rate of 13% in the 1
period. Deadline, one year after registration.New entry.
“The path of least resistance in the stock market appears to be higher until consumer spending declines
and/or the labour market collapses,” said Nicholas Bonsack of Strategas.
“As long as there is no slowdown in the equity markets, we remain optimistic as we increased our equity exposure towards the end of the year,
but we expect the same group that led the market last year. The latter, the G7, continues to grow.

Magnificent Seven

While the S&P 500 index rose 1% to offset last week’s losses,
The Nasdaq 100 index, which includes stocks of the largest technology companies, has almost doubled. Shares of
Advanced Micro Devices also hit a record high, with Nvidia shares gaining the most among high-tech stocks.
While the yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained unchanged, the price of the dollar fell.

US Stocks

The United States is so tight while stock markets have surprised investors with new highs,
the activity continues to hide increasing divergence beneath the surface that suggests ongoing “technical illness,”
according to Dan Wantrupski from Janney Montgomery Scott,

Such aggressive leadership represents a return to last year (Megacap/AI/G7)
and we believe a period of increased volatility will soon begin in this case,” Wantrupski added.
The combination of better-than-expected economic growth and a significant improvement in inflation
giving the Fed the flexibility to cut interest rates – gives UBS’s investment office more

confidence in the base case scenario of a soft landing for the economy.
While this positive result is widely appreciated in the stock market,
gains in the market may be a little longer in coming, the company notes.
“The S&P 500 price targets for June and December are 4,900 and 5,000, respectively,”
said David Lefkowitz of UBS Global Wealth Management.

He added: “We maintain a neutral bias towards US equities in our tactical asset allocation.
In our view, and given the S&P 500’s exceptional valuations, we expect accelerating earnings growth
to be a key driver of the more moderate growth we expect.

Stocks expectations

Double-digit growth in stock prices in 2023, led by big capitalists, means the growing share of the index
is more closely linked to long-term earnings prospects
and therefore more sensitive to rising yields.
Against the background of persistent inflation fears, the positive correlations between stocks and bonds have strengthened again.
Since last August,
the 60-day correlation between the S&P 500 index and benchmark Treasuries has returned to positive,
affecting the security’s hedging function.
“The good news is that the market has done well to overcome some extremes in prices and sentiment,
correcting them over time and causing stocks to turn around rather than face strong selling pressure,”
Keith said Learner from Trust Advisory Services.

“Economic growth, profits and credit continue to show resilience. »
“Three key factors weighed on the ratings: avoiding a recession in 2023,
a reversal of Federal Reserve measures to reduce borrowing costs and rising profit expectations in 2024.”
said Rob Swankey of the Commonwealth Financial Network.
“However, interest rates are significantly higher than at the start of 2022 and earnings expectations for 2024 are already high,
so expectations need to be tempered,” he noted.

Traders also closely followed the comments of politicians who spoke ahead of the Fed meeting
hours before the traditional communications blackout.
Three Fed officials stressed on Friday that available data will influence their decision to cut interest rates,
saying they have not yet seen enough evidence to cut rates.

Market Movement

The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 2%. As for the performance of cryptocurrencies, it was as follows:

The price of Bitcoin rose by 1.4%, reaching $41,638.5, while the price of Ethereum reached $2,479.65 after rising by 1%,

while gold settled at $2,028.23 per ounce after rising by 0.2% in spot transactions.

The S&#038;P 500 index reaches its highest level

Related Topics

The S&P 500 index reaches its highest level