Joey Solitro
Stocks closed out the week with a bang as Treasury yields retreated from recent highs. Optimism is swirling ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, which also happens to be a stock market holiday. Indeed, both the equities and bond markets will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8% at 43,487, the S&P 500 was 1.0% higher at 5,996, and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.5% to 19,630. It was the first weekly win of 2025 for the benchmarks and the biggest week-over-week gains for the Dow and S&P 500 since the post-election "Trump bump" in early November.
Enthusiasm toward the incoming administration gave a boost to bitcoin, which topped the $105,000 level for the first time since mid-December. This created a halo to lift several cryptocurrency-related stocks, including Robinhood Markets (HOOD, +4.5%) and Coinbase Global (COIN, +4.9%).
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SLB soars on earnings beat, dividend hike
Elsewhere, SLB (SLB) was one of the best S&P 500 stocks, adding 6.1%, after the oilfield services company beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its fourth quarter.
For the third year in a row, SLB raised its quarterly dividend, this time by 3.6%. It also announced a $2.3 billion accelerated share repurchase.
"With its significant scale, we believe SLB is poised to benefit from continued strengthening business dynamics driven by increased demand on an expected momentum in international activity (Middle East in focus)," wrote Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne in a January 3 note.
The analyst also expects SLB to continue with its "industry-leading margins, robust free cash flow and solid shareholder returns in the upcoming years."
Other stocks on the move
J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) stock fell 7.4% after the logistics company fell short of profit expectations and only matched revenue expectations for its fourth quarter.
"We maintain our Sell rating based on our view of increased competition," says CFRA Research analyst Emily Nasseff Mitsch. "Additionally, we expect JBHT to face challenges in expanding margins above historical levels."
Qorvo (QRVO) stock surged 14.4% after activist investor Starboard Value revealed a 7.7% stake in the chipmaker and Apple (AAPL) supplier.
"We are very intrigued by the investment stake as we have viewed Starboard as one of the most successful activists within the semiconductor industry over the last decade-plus," says CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino (Hold).
And while Zino thinks QRVO will benefit from cost-cutting initiatives, he is "cautious about the increasing competitive landscape across the radio-frequency space both domestically and from China."
Housing starts, industrial production improved
Turning to the economic calendar, data from the Census Bureau showed housing starts jumped 15.8% month over month in December thanks to "a surge in rental unit construction," says José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.
However, "this elevated degree of groundbreaking wasn't accompanied by gains in future plans," Torres says, considering building permits slipped 0.7%.
Separate data from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production increased 0.9% in December, the second straight month of growth.
"Although this indicator has large revisions on a month-on-month basis, the prospects for the manufacturing sector seem to have brightened somewhat lately, with manufacturing diffusion indices showing a potential improvement in the sector," says Eugenio Alemán, chief economist at Raymond James.
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