Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Wednesday’s session is one of modest gains on Wall Street, with all major large-cap stock indices in the green. Market attention is focused on the long-awaited decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
The price of Bitcoin remains stable around $46,250 at 1 p.m. in New York, recovering from losses incurred following a false tweet posted Tuesday on the SEC’s Twitter account, which was later declared compromised due to a hacker attack.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, is up by 4.2%. Investors may view it as the next potential candidate if a Bitcoin ETF receives approval.
Treasury yields are holding steady, while the U.S. dollar is slightly down. Gold continues to lose ground, declining by 0.3% to $2,024 per ounce.
Market participants and Fed watchers prefer to have more clarity on potential moves by the Federal Reserve and eagerly await the December inflation report set to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
Wednesday’s Performance In Major Indices, ETFs
| Nasdaq 100 | 16,770.27 | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 4,775.12 | 0.4% |
| Dow Jones | 37,601.94 | 0.2% |
| Russell 2000 | 1963.78 | -0.1% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.3% to $475.38, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched 0.2% higher to $375.88 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.5% to $407.76, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Consumer Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) outperformed, up 1%, followed by the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY), up 0.6%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) underperformed, down 1.3%.
On an industry level, homebuilders, as tracked by the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (NYSE:ITB), gained 1.4%. Stocks in the oil and gas downstream industries continued to underperform, with the VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH) down 2%.
Wednesday's Stock Movers
- Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw its stock surge by more than 7% to reach $352.01, marking its highest point since July 2023, after the company reported strong fourth-quarter results.
- Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) experienced a 5% increase in its stock price, reaching $308.22, following upward revisions of price targets by both Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 3.9%, reaching a new all-time high of $372 after Mizuho raised the price target from $400 to $470.
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