Wall Street Revels In Gains As AI, Tech Titans Surge; Dollar Plunges Against Yen: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL soared by 6% as Wall Street celebrated the launch of Gemini, a new artificial intelligence model with the potential to close the gap in its race against Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

The Nasdaq 100 was up 1.4%, on track to deliver its best daily performance since Nov. 14.

Treasury yields remained stable on Thursday, with the market temporarily pausing its focus on monetary policy, awaiting more insights into the job market’s health with the November jobs report set to be released Friday morning.

The dollar index (DXY), as tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, declined by 0.8%, primarily driven by a 2.6% drop of the greenback against the Japanese yen, the most significant movement since Dec. 20, 2022.

Gold remained steady at $2,020 per ounce, while oil continued its downward trend, slipping by 0.5% and heading for its sixth consecutive negative session.

Bitcoin BTC/USD experienced a 1% decline following negative remarks from JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon.

Thursday’s Performance of Major US Indices & ETFs

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY edged 0.77% higher to $458.23.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA was 0.2% higher to $361.97. 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rallied 1.4% to $390.53
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.5% to $184.96, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Chart Of The Day: Yen Takes Revenge

Sector, Industry ETF Performance

Communication services and technology led gains, with the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK up by 2.4% and 1.1% respectively.

Energy continued to lag, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE down 0.7%, on track for its fourth straight sessions of losses.

Industry-wise, airline stocks outperformed, with the U.S. Global Jets JETS up 2.2%, followed by semiconductors, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH up 2%. Industry laggards were the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH, down 0.9%, and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF KIE, down 0.4%.

Latest Economic Data

• New unemployment benefit claims held steady, with 220,000 initial claims reported for the week ending Dec. 2, broadly unchanged from the revised figure of 219,000 in the previous week.
  
• Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 7.27% to 7.03% as of Dec. 6.
  
• Wholesale inventories saw a 0.4% month-over-month decline in October, surpassing the initial estimate of a 0.2% decrease and following a revised flat performance in the previous month.

Stocks In Focus

• Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA surged by 7.6% on Thursday following the company’s announcement of an expanded range of COVID-19 and flu testing and treatment options.
  
• Dish Network Corp. DISH and EchoStar Corp. SATS rose 8.3% and 7.8%, respectively, after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission for their proposed merger.
  
• R1 RCM Inc. RCM fell over 6% after Deutsche Bank lower the stock’s price target from $19 to $16.
  
• Teradata Corp. TDC fell over 6% despite a lack of market-sensitive news.
  
• Lulemon Athletica inc. LULU was 0.8% higher, ahead of company’s earnings report after market close.
  
• Following the closing bell, Broadcom Inc. AVGO, The Cooper Companies, Inc. COO, DocuSign, Inc. DOCU, and Vail Resorts, Inc. MTN will release their results.

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