Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
The U.S. stock market experienced a quiet day on Wednesday, with major indices showing minimal movement amid typical year-end low volume activity. The S&P 500 hovered around 4,777 points, remaining less than one percentage point from its recent all-time highs.
Tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 paused, while blue-chip and small-cap stocks posted minor gains.
The Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF (NYSE:UUP), a measure of the dollar’s performance, fell by 0.6% as Treasury yields continued their downward trend.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 3.82%, reaching a new five-month low. Yields on the longer-dated 30-year Treasuries fell below 4% for the first time since late July.
As yields and the dollar weakened, gold prices, as tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD), found support, with the precious metal rising 0.9% to $2,080 per ounce. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) also showed a positive session, increasing by 1.4% amid optimistic prospects for near-term ETF approval. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) soared over 6%.
Wednesday’s Performance In US Major Indices, ETFs
| Dow Jones | 37,638.46 | +0.2% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,063.17 | +0.2% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 16,885.34 | 0.0% |
| S&P 500 | 4,777.22 | 0.0% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was flat at $475.61, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) was 0.2% higher to $375.93 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) held steady at $410.75, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) continued to outperform, up by 0.5%, buoyed by declining Treasury yields.
Staples and utilities outperformed, with both the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) up 0.9%.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) was the laggard, down 0.3%, as oil prices inched 1.5% lower.
Among industries, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) led gains, up 1.7%, while oil services lagged behind, with the VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH) falling 0.4%.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
- Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gained 2.4% amid plans to launch a revamped version of Model Y from its Shanghai plant.
- Crypto-related stocks soared: Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) rose 7%, Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT) rallied 16% and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) was up 12%.
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) held steady after a U.S. Court of Appeals temporarily halted an import ban imposed by the U.S. International Trade Commission due to patent infringements on certain models of the company’s smartwatches. Masimo Corp. (NASDAQ:MASI) fell 3%.
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