The New York stock market closed higher on the last trading day of the third week of December. The November Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which performed better than market expectations, lifted the market.
On the 20th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a group of blue-chip stocks, closed at 42,840.26, up 498.02 points (1.18%) from the previous session.
The large-cap benchmark Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 63.77 points (1.09%) to 5,930.85, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index gained 199.83 points (1.03%) to 19,572.60.
It was the first time in 11 trading days since the 5th that all three major indices closed higher simultaneously.
The Dow, which had fallen for 10 consecutive trading days until the 18th, marking the longest decline in 50 years since 1974, barely rebounded the previous day and surged significantly on this day.
The S&P 500's rate of increase was also the largest since early November.
The market movement on this day was driven by the November PCE. The PCE is the Federal Reserve's most preferred inflation gauge.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the November PCE rose 0.1% month-over-month and 2.4% year-over-year.
The core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.1% month-over-month and 2.8% year-over-year, both falling short of market expectations (0.2%↑ and 2.9%↑) by 0.1 percentage points each.
Austin Goolsby, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, noted the November PCE's underperformance relative to market expectations and described it as a "positive signal that inflation is moving toward the Fed's target (2%)."
He explained, "I view the November PCE as indicating that the recent rigid trend over the past few months is more of a 'bump' rather than a 'path change,' and that U.S. inflation is still on a slowing trajectory toward 2%."
He added, "Even if the rate cuts next year are narrower than this year, my belief remains unchanged that the Fed will lower policy rates to a reasonable level."
The market initially fell together immediately after the November PCE release but then reversed to a rebound supported by positive interpretations.
Among the seven stocks in the large technology group known as the 'Magnificent 7,' four stocks, including Nvidia, rose and supported the market. Nvidia rose 3.08%, Apple 1.88%, Alphabet (Google's parent company) 1.54%, and Amazon 0.73%. Microsoft (MS) fell 0.10%, Tesla 3.46%, and Meta (Facebook's parent company) 1.73% respectively.
Apple, the company with the largest market capitalization, reached an intraday high of $255.00, setting a new all-time high again, and also set a record closing price at $254.49. Apple's market capitalization increased to $3.846 trillion.
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