Wall Street Continues to Reach New Heights, the "Christmas Rally" Takes Shape

The S&P 500 rose by 0.4% and the Dow Jones by 0.7%, both reaching record levels, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.3%. The third-quarter GDP growth, released yesterday, significantly exceeded expectations, which had anticipated an annualized expansion of 4.3%. This growth reflects robust private consumption and alleviates concerns that tariffs might have hindered spending or triggered rampant inflation. At the same time, initial unemployment claims decreased, while the number of ongoing claims increased, confirming the outlook of low hiring and layoffs in a fragmented labor market. Although tech giants underperformed, they generally maintained momentum throughout the week, despite ongoing worries about overestimating investment spending in AI. However, Intel saw a decline of 0.5% following Nvidia's announcement to halt a test using Intel equipment for advanced chips.