Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Hit Record Highs
Strong gains for blue chips such as JPMorgan Chase and Travelers pushed the S&P 500 and Dow to new heights.
Stocks finished the holiday-shortened week with a bang as market participants cheered a comparatively upbeat reading on consumer sentiment. A round of well-received earnings reports also helped boost equities heading into the weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 37,863 – a new record close – and the S&P 500 gained 1.2% to 4,839, easily slicing through its previous record close set back on January 3, 2022. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.7% to 15,310, but remains 4.6% below its closing peak of 16,057.44 set in November 2021.
The main indexes started climbing higher mid-morning after the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index jumped 13.1% from December to January. At 78.8, the index's January reading is the highest since July 2021.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"Consumer views were supported by confidence that inflation has turned a corner and strengthening income expectations," the report said. "Over the last two months, sentiment has climbed a cumulative 29%, the largest two-month increase since 1991 as a recession ended."
JPMorgan's Dimon gets a big pay raise
In single-stock news, JPMorgan Chase (JPM, +1.7%) was one of the top-performing blue chip stocks following news of CEO Jamie Dimon's big pay hike. The board of the largest U.S. bank by total assets approved a $36 million compensation package for the exec, up from $34.5 million in 2022.
According to a regulatory filing, Dimon's pay package includes an annual base salary of $1.5 million and $34.5 million in "performance-based variable incentive compensation."
The board cited Dimon's "stewardship of the Firm" as it posts record financial results and boasts a "fortress balance sheet" as reasons for the pay increase. "In addition, the Firm successfully navigated and supported its clients and customers through the regional bank turmoil as well as completed the acquisition of First Republic," the filing said.
While today's gains for JPM were indeed impressive, it was Travelers Companies (TRV, +6.7%) that was the best Dow Jones stock. The property casualty insurer said fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled on a year-over-year basis to $7.01 per share. Revenue was up 13.6% to $10.9 billion. Both figures beat analysts' estimates.
Q4 GDP, Tesla earnings on deck
Next week will be a busy one. On the economic front, Wall Street will get its first look at fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). The data, which is due out Thursday morning, is expected to show economic growth slowed to 2% or less in the fourth quarter "a robust 4.9% rise in the third quarter," writes Kiplinger economist David Payne in his GDP forecast. "That will bring 2023's growth rate to 2.4%, better than 2022's 1.9%."
Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX, -0.5%) and Tesla (TSLA, +0.2%) headline a jam-packed earnings calendar. Analysts are anticipating strong top- and bottom-line growth for the streaming giant, while the electric vehicle maker is expected to post a sharp drop in profits.
Related content
- World's Most Valuable Company: Apple and Microsoft Battle for Top Spot
- When Is the Next Fed Meeting?
- Congress Averts a Government Shutdown, Again
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Pause as Investors Assess Fed Policy
The Federal Reserve met expectations with a quarter-point rate cut.
By David Dittman Published
-
Fed Cuts Rates Again: What the Experts Are Saying
Federal Reserve The central bank continued to ease, but a new administration in Washington clouds the outlook for future policy moves.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Pause as Investors Assess Fed Policy
The Federal Reserve met expectations with a quarter-point rate cut.
By David Dittman Published
-
Fed Cuts Rates Again: What the Experts Are Saying
Federal Reserve The central bank continued to ease, but a new administration in Washington clouds the outlook for future policy moves.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Jumps 1,500 points on Election Outcome
The removal of election uncertainty unleashed a powerful rally in equity markets.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Market Reaction to Election Results: What the Experts Are Saying
Jobs Report Election uncertainty has been removed from the list of investors' worries, helping equities soar.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Should You Buy Tesla Stock After Trump's Election Win?
Shares in Tesla popped on the outcome of the presidential election. Is it time to buy?
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise Amid a Broad-Based Election Day Rally
All 11 sectors closed in the green on Tuesday, and all three major indexes added more than 1%.
By David Dittman Published
-
Stocks Rally on Election Day as Markets Brace for Volatility
All three major indexes opened higher as voters chose the 47th President of the United States.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Slip Ahead of Election Day, Fed Decision
Post-earnings strength from Amazon and Intel helped cushion the blow of a disappointing October jobs report.
By David Dittman Published