Wall Street today: US stocks rise on final day of bullish 2024

Wall Street stocks edged higher on the final trading session of 2024 on Tuesday, extending a bull run of the year fuelled by a nearly 100 basis point cut in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve and a boost from the AI revolution

At 09:53 am, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 79.15 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 42,652.88, the S&P 500 gained 7.91 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 5,914.28 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.12 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 19,497.96.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.0 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 42,636.7. The S&P 500 rose 12.8 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 5,919.74, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 64.6 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 19,551.358.

The three key indices are near record highs and are set for their second consecutive year of gains.

Among megacap stocks, AI-chip giant Nvidia was down 0.5 per cent and EV automaker Tesla added 1.1 per cent.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.52 per cent from 4.54 per cent late on Monday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell to 4.22 per cent from 4.24 per cent.

The Bitcoin rally sparked by US President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory in early November is stalling as 2024 draws to an end.

The cryptocurrency wavered at $93,922 as of 6:30 am on Tuesday in New York, about $15,000 below the record high set in mid-December.

Crude oil

Oil prices were steady on Tuesday as data showed an expansion in Chinese manufacturing was balanced by Nigeria targeting higher output next year.

Brent crude futures fell by 7 cents, or 0.09 per cent, to $73.92 a barrel as of 1306 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude lost 4 cents, or 0.06 per cent, to $70.95 a barrel.

Bullion

Gold prices rose on Tuesday on geopolitical uncertainties.

Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to $2,607.72 per ounce as of 1315 GMT, while US gold futures gained 0.1 per cent to $2,620.40.

Spot silver fell 0.3 per cent to $28.85 per ounce.