We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Wall Street closed mostly flat on Thursday after a choppy season. Market participants digested higher-than-expected inflation data along with lower-than-expected initial claims. Moreover, in a landmark judgement SEC approved spot bitcoin ETF. The Dow and the Nasdaq Composite managed to end in green while the S&P 500 finished in red.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 15.29 points to close at 37,711.02. At intraday high, the blue-chip index was up nearly 106 points while at intraday low, the index was down more than 270 points. Notably, 15 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 15 ended in negative zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 14,970.18, up by a mere 0.54 points. This marked the fifth straight days of positive closing for the tech-laden index. Tech behemoths like Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW - Free Report) and Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , advanced 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively. Netflix currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to finish at 4,780.24. During intraday trading, the benchmark briefly traded above its record closing high of 4,796.56, recorded in January 2022. Nine out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in negative territory while two in positive zone. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) tumbled 2.3% and 0.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 0.5%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2% to 12.44. A total of 11.41 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12.27 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.3-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.8-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
CPI Remains Strong
The Department of Labor reported that the consumer price Index (CPI) – a key measure of inflation – rose 0.3% month-over-month in December, beating the consensus estimate of 0.2%. In November, CPI rose 0.1% month over month. CPI was up 3.4% in 2023 compared with the consensus estimate of 3.2%. However, in 2022, the inflation gauge was up around 6.4%.
Core CPI (excluding the volatile food and energy items) increased 0.3% in December, in line with the consensus estimate and the metric for November. Year over year, core CPI was up 3.9% in December, beating the consensus estimate of 3.8%. However, the year-over-year core CPI reading in December was the lowest since May 2021.
Other Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 202,000 for the week ended Jan 6, lower-than the consensus estimate of 210,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward to 203,000 from 202,000 reported earlier. Continuing claims — people who already received government unemployment benefit and run a week behind the headline number — came in at 1.834 million for the week ended Dec 30, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week.
SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin ETF
The much-hyped reformation in the cryptocurrency space took place on Jan 10. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule changes to allow the creation of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As many as,11 bitcoin ETF’s are expected to be launched this year. The game-changing decision of the SEC will allow individuals, money managers and other financial institutions to get exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency without having to own it.
The SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has been an ardent critic of cryptocurrency. For a long time, the agency was also reluctant to the approve so-called spot bitcoin ETFs. However, the situation changed after the SEC lost a lawsuit to Grayscale on August 2023.
The court condemned the agency for blocking bitcoin ETFs and allowed funds that track bitcoin futures. The SEC’s latest decision is likely to turn out to be a landmark, positioning the entire crypto space as an integral component of mainstream finance.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Stock Market News for Jan 12, 2024
Wall Street closed mostly flat on Thursday after a choppy season. Market participants digested higher-than-expected inflation data along with lower-than-expected initial claims. Moreover, in a landmark judgement SEC approved spot bitcoin ETF. The Dow and the Nasdaq Composite managed to end in green while the S&P 500 finished in red.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 15.29 points to close at 37,711.02. At intraday high, the blue-chip index was up nearly 106 points while at intraday low, the index was down more than 270 points. Notably, 15 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 15 ended in negative zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 14,970.18, up by a mere 0.54 points. This marked the fifth straight days of positive closing for the tech-laden index. Tech behemoths like Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW - Free Report) and Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , advanced 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively. Netflix currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to finish at 4,780.24. During intraday trading, the benchmark briefly traded above its record closing high of 4,796.56, recorded in January 2022. Nine out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in negative territory while two in positive zone. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) tumbled 2.3% and 0.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 0.5%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2% to 12.44. A total of 11.41 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12.27 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.3-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.8-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
CPI Remains Strong
The Department of Labor reported that the consumer price Index (CPI) – a key measure of inflation – rose 0.3% month-over-month in December, beating the consensus estimate of 0.2%. In November, CPI rose 0.1% month over month. CPI was up 3.4% in 2023 compared with the consensus estimate of 3.2%. However, in 2022, the inflation gauge was up around 6.4%.
Core CPI (excluding the volatile food and energy items) increased 0.3% in December, in line with the consensus estimate and the metric for November. Year over year, core CPI was up 3.9% in December, beating the consensus estimate of 3.8%. However, the year-over-year core CPI reading in December was the lowest since May 2021.
Other Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 202,000 for the week ended Jan 6, lower-than the consensus estimate of 210,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward to 203,000 from 202,000 reported earlier. Continuing claims — people who already received government unemployment benefit and run a week behind the headline number — came in at 1.834 million for the week ended Dec 30, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week.
SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin ETF
The much-hyped reformation in the cryptocurrency space took place on Jan 10. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule changes to allow the creation of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As many as,11 bitcoin ETF’s are expected to be launched this year. The game-changing decision of the SEC will allow individuals, money managers and other financial institutions to get exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency without having to own it.
The SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has been an ardent critic of cryptocurrency. For a long time, the agency was also reluctant to the approve so-called spot bitcoin ETFs. However, the situation changed after the SEC lost a lawsuit to Grayscale on August 2023.
The court condemned the agency for blocking bitcoin ETFs and allowed funds that track bitcoin futures. The SEC’s latest decision is likely to turn out to be a landmark, positioning the entire crypto space as an integral component of mainstream finance.