Wall Street Edges Higher, Small Caps Eye Best Month In 3 Years, Bitcoin Rebounds: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

Author: Piero Cingari | December 20, 2023 02:47pm

Stocks inched higher during midday trading in New York on Wednesday, with the momentum carrying over from the previous day when the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 achieved fresh record highs.

The percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading above the 50-day moving average has surged to 90%, reaching its peak for the year.

Small-cap stocks, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), continue to outperform large-cap counterparts, boosting their month-to-date performance to 12.5%, the strongest since November 2020.

Treasury yields remained relatively stable, with the 10-year yield at 3.9% and the 30-year yield hovering around 4%. The dollar has seen a 0.2% increase.

Among commodities, gold dipped by 0.4%, while silver gained 1%. WTI crude oil remained flat at $74.

The standout performer of the day is Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), which saw a 3.5% increase. James Seyffart, an ETF research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, reported BlackRock updated its S-1 filing with the SEC.

Chart of The Day: 90% Of S&P 500 Stocks Above 50-Day Average

Wednesday Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices & ETFs	Price	% Change
Russell 2000	2,038.78	0.9%
Dow Jones	37,642.65	0.2%
Nasdaq 100	16,839.46	0.2%
S&P 500	4,775.07	0.1%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.1% higher to $475.53, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) was 0.2% higher to $376.20 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) inched 0.2% up to $409.80, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) outperformed, both up 0.8%. Staples, as tracked by the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) lagged behind, down 0.9%.

Among industries, miners and oil and gas, as tracked by the SPDR Metal and Mining (NYSE:XME) and the VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH), outperformed, up 1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (NYSE:IBB) was the underperformer, down 1%.

S&P Sector ETFs	% Change
Energy	+0.9%
Communications	+0.8%
Real Estate	+0.4%
Technology	+0.2%
Consumer Discretionary	+0.1%
Industrials	+0.1%
Health Care	0.0%
Materials	-0.1%
Financials	-0.1%
Utilities	-0.4%
Consumer Staples	-0.9%

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) rose 9% on better-than-expected quarterly results.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) fell over 10% on disappointing quarterly results.
• DXC Technology Company (NYSE:DXC) traded over 8% lower after the company disclosed a management change.
• Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:EXAS) rose by 4% after surging by 7.5% a day earlier, after Guggenheim initiated coverage on Exact Sciences with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $90.
• Aon plc (NYSE:AON) tumbled 6% after the company announced a deal to buy property and casualty insurance broker NFP for $13.4 billion, to be financed by cash and share issuances, as it looks to expand in segments such as risk, benefits, wealth, and retirement plan advisory.

Read now: Long-Duration Treasury Bonds Enter Bull Market: What Lies Ahead In 2024?

Photo via Shutterstock.

Posted In: $BTC AON DIA DXC EXAS FDX GDX IBB IWM OIH QQQ SPY TAN TTC XLB XLC XLE XLP XME