Zinger Key Points
- Major indices and sectors close higher, with the S&P 500 up 1%, marking its third consecutive session of gains.
- Tech and consumer discretionary stocks outperform, Tesla surges 7.35%, leading the Nasdaq 100's 1.3% gain.
- Get 5 stock picks identified before their biggest breakouts, identified by the same system that spotted Insmed, Sprouts, and Uber before their 20%+ gains.
Wall Street kicked off the Santa Rally season on a positive note, with all major indices and sectors closing higher in a shortened session ahead of the Christmas holiday.
The S&P 500 climbed 1%, extending its gains for a third consecutive session following last week’s volatile Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3%, nearly erasing last week’s losses.
Consumer discretionary stocks, the top-performing sector of the year, led the rally amid light trading volumes. Tesla Inc TSLA surged 7.35%, marking its strongest single-day performance since November.
Other standout performers in the S&P 500 included Walmart Inc. WMT, Starbucks Corp. SBUX, and Netflix Inc. NFLX, up 2.4%, 2.8% and 2.5% respectively.
The U.S. dollar index posted modest gains, with the greenback hovering near over one-year highs against the euro. Treasury yields remained stable, with the 10-year benchmark at 4.6%, the highest level since May.
In commodities, gold edged up 0.4%, while oil prices rose 0.7%.
Risk appetite returned to the cryptocurrency market following recent volatility, as Bitcoin BTC/USD jumped 4% to over $98,000. This rally buoyed crypto-related stocks, including Microstrategy Inc. MSTR, MARA Digital Holdings Inc. MARA, and Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, all posting notable gains.
Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Nasdaq 100 | 21,771.80 | 1.3% |
| S&P 500 | 6,032.64 | 1.0% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,254.99 | 0.8% |
| Dow Jones | 43,239.42 | 0.8% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 1.1% to $601.01.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.8% to $432.44.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rallied 1.3% to $529.94.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 1% to $223.46.
- The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY outperformed, up by 2.3%; the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU lagged, up 0.5%.
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