On Wall Street, major stock indexes finished the week with a mixed outcome, highlighting a relatively unstable period for the market.
The S&P 500 concluded nearly unchanged, with a slight decrease of less than 0.1%, after fluctuating between minor gains and losses throughout the day. This marks the index’s first weekly loss after achieving three consecutive weeks of gains.
Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a dip of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite experienced a slight increase of 0.1%, ending just shy of the record high set earlier in the week.

On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners outnumbered gainers by a ratio of over two to one.
Technology stocks contributed positively, counterbalancing declines in sectors such as communication services and financial services.
Notably, Broadcom recorded a significant 24.4% increase, marking the largest gain in the S&P 500 after the semiconductor company surpassed Wall Street’s profit expectations and provided an optimistic forecast focused on its artificial intelligence products.
Additionally, Broadcom announced a dividend hike, reinforcing investor confidence.

The surge in Broadcom’s stock helped mitigate the broader market’s decline.
Tech stocks, particularly those with high valuations, tend to have substantial influence on the overall market direction.
Over the past year, artificial intelligence has been a central topic within the technology sector, with expectations that demand will continue to propel growth for semiconductor and tech companies.

However, some technology stocks exerted downward pressure on the market, including Nvidia, which fell 2.2%, Meta Platforms with a drop of 1.7%, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, decreasing by 1.1%.
In addition to tech losses, Airbnb posted a 4.7% decline, marking the largest loss on the S&P 500, while Charles Schwab ended the day down 4%.
Conversely, RH, a furniture and housewares brand previously known as Restoration Hardware, surged by 17% after increasing its revenue growth forecast for the year.

The S&P 500 ultimately lost 0.16 points, closing at 6,051.09.
The Dow finished down 86.06 points at 43,828.06, and the Nasdaq gained 23.88 points, closing at 19,926.72.
The lack of momentum in Wall Street’s rally this week coincided with various mixed economic indicators and anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year.
There is widespread expectation that the central bank will announce interest rate cuts, marking the third reduction since September.

This anticipation of rate cuts has resulted in the S&P 500 reaching 57 all-time highs throughout the year.
The Fed has been adjusting its benchmark interest rates downwards after an assertive rate-increasing strategy aimed at controlling inflation, which raised rates from near-zero early in 2022 to a two-decade peak in mid-2023.
As higher interest rates applied pressure, inflation has been shown to ease, nearing the Fed’s target of 2%.

Meanwhile, the economy has shown resilience, with strong consumer spending and employment rates persisting, although there are signs of a slowdown in the job market that may prompt a policy shift from the Fed.
Recently, inflation rates have shown a slight uptick; a report this week noted an increase in consumer prices to 2.7% in November, up from 2.6% in October.
The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures index, is set to be released next week, with forecasts indicating a rise to 2.5% in November from 2.3% in October.

Despite uncertainties surrounding regulatory, immigration, trade, and tax policies, the economy continues to show strength as it heads into 2025, according to Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY.
Treasury yields experienced a slight uptick, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury rising to 4.40% from 4.34% the previous day.
In Europe, markets saw slight declines, with Britain’s FTSE 100 decreasing by 0.1%, following an unexpected contraction in the economy of 0.1% month-on-month in October after a similar decline in September.
Asian markets also closed mostly lower as the week concluded.