Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks had their best week of 2024

The S&P 500 was up 0.4% on Friday and 4.7% this week, its biggest weekly advance so far this year, as the postelection rally continues. The index crossed 6,000 briefly earlier today. Similarly, the Nasdaq 100 climbed 5.4% this week, while the Russell 2000 jumped 8.6%. 

All 11 S&P 500 sectors were up this week, the first time since August. The consumer-discretionary sector added 7.5% this week, leading all sectors. It was primarily driven by Tesla, which rose 29.3% over the past five sessions.

On the day, communication services, technology, and materials declined. 

Tesla was also the only Magnificent 7 stock that moved upward today. Other Big Tech companies were not enjoying the market rally as much as stocks that have a more obvious linkage to the president-elect, as the likes of Alphabet and Amazon declined modestly on Friday. Among other index movers, taser-maker Axon rose a whopping 28.7% after posting upbeat earnings; Airbnb fell 8.7% after a slight bump on Thursday. 

Bonds had their biggest weekly gains since early September. Crude-oil futures fell on Friday, though the commodity still made gains this week. The US dollar advanced for the sixth consecutive week. Bitcoin neared the $77,000 benchmark.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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