An encouraging reading on retail sales sent stocks higher to start Thursday. While the rally ran out of steam shortly after lunchtime, a late-afternoon push higher had the main indexes adding to Wednesday's Fed-induced gains.
Yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each jumped 1.4%, with the blue-chip Dow closing at a new all-time high. The bullish price action was fueled by the Federal Reserve's forecast for three rate cuts for next year.
Today, the Dow carved out another new high, rising 0.4% to 37,248. The Nasdaq (+0.2% at 14,761) and the S&P 500 (+0.3% at 4,719) finished with more modest gains.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free 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.
Notably, small-cap stocks – which lag the major indexes on a year-to-date basis – outperformed, with the Russell 2000 index jumping 2.7% to 2,000.
"It's only natural that smaller companies, which tend to require more access to capital markets and have brittler balance sheets, suffered more than their larger peers when the Fed's most aggressive tightening campaign in four decades left interest rates at a 22-year high," writes Dan Burrows, senior investing writer for Kiplinger.com, wrote in his updated piece on the best small-cap stocks to buy. But the "Federal Reserve's pivot to rate cuts in 2024 is just what beleaguered small caps needed."
Retail sales unexpectedly rise in November
Retail sales headlined Thursday's economic calendar. Data from the Census Bureau showed retail sales rose 0.3% in November – an improvement over October's downwardly revised 0.2% decline. Economists, for their part, were anticipating a 0.1% decline in retail sales.
"Today's data suggests the U.S. economy – especially the consumer – is still chugging along," says Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. "The risk going forward is that too much economic heat could reignite inflation and put the Fed back in a defensive posture. For now, though, the 'soft-ish' landing scenario remains in place."
Buffett boosts Occidental Petroleum stake
In single-stock news, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) popped 2.7% after a regulatory filing revealed Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, -1.1%) bought about 10.5 million OXY shares between December 11 and December 13.
Buffett & Co. first started accumulating shares of the oil stock in the first quarter of 2022. At the end of Q3 2023, the holding company owned more than 224 million Occidental shares, accounting for 4.6% of the Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio.
Intel stock pops on AI chip news
Elsewhere, Intel (INTC) rose 1.4% after the company unveiled new chips that will allow for easier use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications on personal computers.
"AI innovation is poised to raise the digital economy's impact up to as much as one-third of global gross domestic product1," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in the press release. "Intel is developing the technologies and solutions that empower customers to seamlessly integrate and effectively run AI in all their applications – in the cloud and, increasingly, locally at the PC and edge, where data is generated and used."
INTC has been one of the best Dow Jones stocks so far this year, but it remains a big disappointment for long-term investors.
Related content
- Amazon Outlet: Where to Get Hot (and Cheap) Overstock Deals Online
- The Earnings Recession Is Over
- Best Investing Moves to Make Before the End of the Year
-
Tariffs, Inflation, Uncertainty, Oh My: How to Feel Less Stressed About Finances Now, ReallyTariffs, high prices and an uncertain economy getting you down? These steps can help.
-
IRS Updates Capital Gains Tax Thresholds for 2026: Here’s What’s NewCapital Gains The IRS has increased the capital gains tax income thresholds for 2026. You'll need this information to help minimize your tax burden.
-
Amazon Surge Sends S&P 500, Nasdaq Higher to Start November: Stock Market TodayAmazon inked a $38 billion cloud deal with OpenAI, which sent the stock to the top of the Dow Jones on Monday.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Home Depot Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayHome Depot stock has been a buy-and-hold banger for truly long-term investors.
-
3 Major Changes Investors Must Prepare for in 2026A possible stock market bubble. Trump accounts. Tokenized stocks. These are just three developments investors need to be aware of in the coming months.
-
Stocks Close Out Strong Month With Solid Amazon Earnings: Stock Market TodayAmazon lifted its spending forecast as its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives create "a massive opportunity."
-
Stocks Sink with Meta, Microsoft: Stock Market TodayAlphabet was a bright light among the Magnificent 7 stocks today after the Google parent's quarterly revenue topped $100 billion for the first time.
-
Dow, S&P 500 Slip on December Rate Cut Worries, Nvidia Boosts Nasdaq: Stock Market TodayNvidia became the first company ever to boast a $5 trillion market cap, but it wasn't enough to lift the Dow and the S&P 500.
-
Stocks Hit Fresh Highs Ahead of the Fed As Earnings Pump Optimism: Stock Market TodaySHW and UNH were two of the best Dow Jones stocks Tuesday, thanks to solid earnings reports, and MSFT closed with a $4 trillion market cap.
-
US-China Trade Hopes Send Stocks to New Highs: Stock Market TodayApple and Microsoft are on track to join Nvidia in the $4 trillion market cap club.
