The S&P 500 is about to hit its first record high in almost two years. Is today the day?
The benchmark index is now just 0.3% away from its last closing record in January 2022. The index has come a long way: it's up 34% from last year's low, helped by a monster rally this quarter.
The US dollar is also in focus. The dollar is expected to fall for a sixth straight session on Thursday, sending the WSJ Dollar Index to its weakest level since July.
Is a weak dollar a bad thing? Probably not. The decline was driven by investor optimism about the global economy and has accelerated recently as traders increase bets on Fed rate cuts next year. A weaker dollar also means higher profits for U.S. companies with large overseas operations.
Stock futures mostly advanced. Contracts tied to the technology-focused Nasdaq-100 led the way, rising 0.3%. S&P 500 futures rose slightly while Dow futures fell. On Wednesday, the Dow hit its sixth record close this month.
Asian stocks rallied after Beijing appeared to soften its crackdown on video game makers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.4%. Internet giants Tencent and NetEase each gained more than 2%.
Oil prices fell as traders assessed the risk of shipping disruptions in the Red Sea. Brent crude fell more than 1% to trade below $79 a barrel.
Bitcoin slipped below $43,000 but still remains close to its 2023 peak.
Treasury yields rose slightly, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising above 3.8%.
Data watch: Initial jobless claims, an indicator of layoffs, rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000 in the week ended Dec. 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was slightly more than the 215,000 that economists had expected.
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