Dow claws gains, Bitcoin slumps as ‘Santa Claus’ rally takes pause

Stocks closed mixed in a quiet trading session on Thursday after the Christmas holiday break.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) closed just below the flat line. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 28 points, or nearly 0.1%.

Stock prices were little changed throughout the session, with key averages fluctuating between positive and negative territory as the market struggled to meaningfully extend its Santa Claus rally.

However, small-cap stocks rose as the Russell 2000 (^RUT) gained more than 0.9%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 15% year-to-date, but Boeing (BA) and Nike (NKE) have been the big laggards of 2024.

As Bespoke Investment Group pointed out, with the exception of Intel (which was dropped from the blue-chip index in November in place of AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA)), industrial giant Boeing is the biggest laggard, having lost 30% since launch of the year after a series of production and safety challenges.

Sportswear brand Nike is also down about 29% year-to-date.

Tesla (TSLA) extended declines to 2% on Thursday afternoon, making it difficult for the Nasdaq (^IXIC) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) to trade steadily in positive territory.

Still, shares of the electric vehicle maker are up more than 80% since the start of the year. The majority of these stock gains came after Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November, which Tesla boss Elon Musk provided significant support for.

Trading volume for Tesla shares on Thursday was about 30% lower than average daily volume, according to chart data from Yahoo Finance.

Bitcoin was trading 3% lower on Thursday afternoon as prices hovered below the $96,000 mark.

The token is about 10% below its all-time high of over $108,000, reached over a week ago.

Despite the recent decline, Bitcoin is up nearly 120% year-to-date, far outperforming other asset classes such as gold and major stock market averages.

As Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports, 2024 was a year of change for the cryptocurrency, once considered a sideshow, a concern for D.C. policymakers and an object of ridicule for top Wall Street figures.

The widespread adoption of crypto this year resulted in big profits for participating investors.

Stock prices were fluctuating as of 1:00 p.m. ET, with key averages fluctuating between positive and negative territory.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) held flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was also little changed.

Shares of electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) and social media company Meta (META) both fell, weighing on the communications services and consumer discretionary sectors.

Meanwhile, chip stock Broadcom (AVGO) rose for the fourth straight day.

Shares of GameStop (GME) rose as much as 10% early Thursday before paring back gains. Shares were up about 6% midday.

The stock’s rise comes after notorious meme stock trader “Roaring Kitty” – real name Keith Gill – posted a mysterious photo of a wrapped gift on December 25th.

GME’s rise on Thursday puts the stock on track to post a gain of about 16% over the past five days. The stock is up over 88% in 2024, fueled by Roaring Kitty’s return to social media after three years of silence.

Still, GameStop shares remain well below their all-time high of over $80 during the stock’s 2021 short squeeze.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) pared losses earlier in the session at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Shares of Honeywell (HON) and Boeing (BA) rose more than 1%, helping lift the blue-chip index slightly above the zero line.

Apple (AAPL) hit intraday highs after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target to a Street high of $325.

AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) erased its early morning losses and traded just below the zero line.

Apple (AAPL) shares hit an all-time intraday high on Thursday after Wall Street signaled confidence in the ongoing recovery.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target on Apple shares to a new Street high of $325, expecting “a golden era of growth” for the Tim Cook-led tech giant in 2025.

Apple shares hit $260 early Thursday before paring gains slightly. The stock was still on track for another record close after hitting a high of $258.20 on Christmas Eve. Shares have risen more than 11% in the last month and the iPhone maker is nearing a market cap of $4 trillion.

Read the full story here.

Shares of the AI ​​chip heavyweight (NVDA) fell more than 1% while the rest of the “Magnificent Seven” stocks wobbled on Thursday.

Technology stocks led the market’s slight declines as Wednesday’s “Santa Claus rally” took a break following the Christmas holidays.

Shares of iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) fluctuated between positive and negative territory in morning trading.

Dan Howley of Yahoo Finance reports:

If 2024 was the year AI chatbots became more and more useful, 2025 will be the year AI agents start to take over. With autonomous and semi-autonomous AI systems, you can think of agents as powerful AI bots that can take actions on your behalf, such as: B. Retrieve data from incoming emails and import it into various apps.

You’ve probably heard rumblings from agents. Companies from Nvidia (NVDA) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) to Microsoft (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) are increasingly talking about agent AI, a fancy way of referring to AI agents, and claiming that they are the This will change the way both businesses and consumers think about AI technologies.

Read more here.

After the Christmas break, stocks opened lower on Thursday, interrupting the Santa Claus rally.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost 0.4%, leading the decline.

All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 were in the red, with real estate stocks leading the decline.