watch
now
Stock
futures
were
little
changed
on
Thursday
evening
as
Wall
Street
looks
to
end
a
winning
year
on
a
high
note
and
possibly
a
new
milestone.
S&P
500
futures
rose
less
than
0.1%.
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
futures
ticked
up
17
points,
or
less
than
0.1%,
while
Nasdaq-100
futures
were
also
marginally
higher.
The
S&P
500
enters
the
final
trading
day
of
2023
less
than
0.5%
from
a
new
record
high,
which
could
serve
as
an
exclamation
point
on
a
rally
that
has
gained
strength
in
the
final
months
of
the
year.
The
S&P
500
is
on
the
cusp
of
a
new
record
high.
The
S&P
500
is
up
24.6%
in
2023,
with
Dow
rising
13.8%.
The
Nasdaq
Composite
has
led
the
way
with
a
gain
of
44.2%
on
the
year
—
on
pace
for
its
biggest
annual
increase
since
2003.
The
story
for
much
of
2023
was
the
excitement
around
artificial
intelligence
fueling
big
gains
for
the
“Magnificent
7”
stocks
like
Nvidia
and
Microsoft,
which
bolstered
the
indexes
even
as
the
average
stock
struggled
amid
rising
interest
rates
and
fueled
the
outperformance
of
the
tech-heavy
Nasdaq.
The
Nasdaq
Composite
has
surged
more
than
40%
in
2023.
But
with
the
Federal
Reserve
signaling
it
is
likely
done
with
rate
hikes
and
could
even
cut
rates
multiple
times
next
year,
the
10-year
Treasury
yield
dove
from
above
5%
in
late
October
to
less
than
3.9%
on
Thursday.
Investors
have
also
grown
more
confident
in
a
possible
“soft
landing”
where
the
U.S.
economy
avoids
a
recession.
As
a
result,
the
market
rally
has
broadened
out
in
the
fourth
quarter,
with
the
industrial-heavy
Dow
already
making
a
string
of
record
highs
this
month.
The
small-cap
Russell
2000
is
up
almost
14%
in
December,
on
track
for
its
best
month
since
November
2020.
Ryan
Detrick,
Carson
Group
chief
market
strategist,
pointed
out
on
Thursday’s
“Closing
Bell”
that
gains
of
10%
or
more
in
final
two
months
of
a
year
is
historically
a
signal
that
there
is
more
room
to
run
for
stocks.
“A
big
end
of
year
rally
like
this
is
not
consistent
with
the
end
of
a
bull
market.
It
usually
means
that
upward
momentum,
that
slingshot,
is
going
to
continue,”
Detrick
said.
