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Wall Street on Friday closed out the penultimate week of the year with a solid advance. Trading volume was low following a truncated session on Christmas Eve and a market holiday on Christmas.
The biggest headline of the week was the U.S. Q3 GDP report. According to a first estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the quarter saw annualized growth of +4.3%, well above the consensus figure of +3.2%. Experts noted a few cracks in the data, namely, weak income and a decoupling between economic growth and employment.
This week’s focus was also on the Santa Claus rally—a historical trend that has seen the benchmark S&P 500 index (SP500) post gains across the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next year. The rally started well on Wednesday, but Friday ended a five-day win streak.
For the week, the S&P (SP500) added +1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) gained +1.2%. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) climbed +1.2%. Read a preview of next week’s major events in Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch.
Weekly Movement
U.S. Indices
Dow +1.2% to 48,711. S&P 500 +1.4% to 6,930. Nasdaq +1.2% to 23,593. Russell 2000 +0.2% to 2,535. CBOE Volatility Index -8.8% to 13.6.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples -0.1%. Utilities +1.2%. Financials +1.7%. Telecom +1.6%. Healthcare +1.1%. Industrials +1.2%. Information Technology +1.8%. Materials +2.4%. Energy +1.1%. Consumer Discretionary +0.6%. Real Estate +1.5%.
World Indices
London -0.3% to 9,871. France -0.6% to 8,104. Germany +0.2% to 24,340. Japan +2.5% to 50,750. China +1.9% to 3,964. Hong Kong +0.5% to 25,819. India +0.1% to 85,041.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI +0.1% to $56.74/bbl. Gold +3.8% to $4,552.7/oz. Natural Gas +9.6% to 4.366. Ten-Year Bond Yield -0.2 bps to 4.134.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD +0.53%. USD/JPY -0.75%. GBP/USD +0.9%. Bitcoin -1%. Litecoin -0.6%. Ethereum -1.6%. XRP -4.4%.
Top S&P 500 Gainers
Micron Technology (MU) +15%. Sandisk (SNDK) +14%. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) +11%. Oracle (ORCL) +10%. NVIDIA (NVDA) +9%.
Top S&P 500 Losers
Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -29%. Brown-Forman (BF.B) -9%. NIKE (NKE) -7%. Carvana (CVNA) -6%. Starbucks (SBUX) -5%.
Where will the markets be headed next week? Current trends and ideas? Add your thoughts to the comments section.
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