Markets “In a Nutshell” for December 16, 2024
Investment Week at a Glance
Stocks finished lower for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8%, the S&P 500 was down 0.6%, and the NASDAQ rose 0.3%. Foreign stocks (MSCI EAFE) were down, falling 0.7%. Bond prices were down for the week, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury ending the week at 4.40%. (Data source: Wall Street Journal)
November CPI Report
The November CPI report was released last week and came in line with expectations as CPI came in at 2.7% year-over-year and Core CPI (ex-food and energy) at 3.3%. Although this data came in line with expectations it still is higher than what the Fed would like to see. Another worry is that CPI has ticked up back-to-back months for the first time in eight months. One positive in this report was housing inflation only rose by 0.2% month-over-month and is now under 5% year-over-year for the first time since January of 2021. Shelter has a 35% weight in the overall CPI number so if this trend continues it could lead to lower overall CPI in the coming months.
Fed Meeting
The Fed will meet again this week and release its decision on what to do with rates on Wednesday. The market is once again pricing in a 0.25% rate cut currently giving it a 97% chance. The Fed continues to try and balance fighting inflation while trying to have a strong economy and not disrupt the strong labor market. This will be the last Fed meeting of the year, and we won’t see another one until the last day of January. As usual, the Fed will have 8 meetings in 2025, each being 6 weeks apart.
Broadcom Joins Trillion-Dollar Club
Broadcom became the 8th U.S. tech company to cross the $1 trillion mark last week as a profit beat and optimistic guidance caused shares to jump 24%. Broadcom has grown fast and has closed three deals valued at over $10 billion each since 2018, the largest being VMware for $61 billion. This acquisition was the 3rd largest technology deal ever and showed Broadcom’s commitment to growth. (CNBC)
Quiz:
Which American company has the largest market cap. (Scroll Down for Answer)
Answer below.
Have a Great Week!
Answer:
1. Apple. At $3.75 trillion, Apple has the largest market cap in the world. Apple also now makes up over 7% of the S&P 500 index.
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