Stocks ꦰrose to new highs Wednesday, led by big gains for shares of technology companies, while bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time, as a month-long post-election rally shows no signsꦰ of fading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 gained 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite ⭕rose 1.3%, as each of the major indexes hit record intraday and closing highs today.
Stocks are off to a strong start this month, after postin🐼g their biggest monthly gains of the year in November, as investor optimism runs high that the incoming Trump administration will implement pro-growth policies that translate into strong corporate earnings and continued stock market gains.
Bitcoin has also surged amid market expectations that the White House and a crypto-friendly Congress will approve measures that support the asset class. Bitcoin was trading a💜t around $103,300 at around 11:15 p.m. ET, up from a low earlier Wednesday of around $95,000.꧑
The surge followed news Wednesday afternoon that President-elect 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Trump named Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins would succeed Gary Gensler, a critic of the crypto industry who last month said 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:he would step down in January.
Among the big movers on the stock market Wednesday, Salesforce (CRM) shares jumped 11% to lead Dow and S&P 500 gainers, after the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cloud software company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued a rosy full-year outlook, boosted by booming demand for AI. Shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) soared 23%, topping the list of Nasdaq advancers, after the chipmaker released a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:strong earnings report.
Large-cap technology stocks were higher across the board, led by a 3.5% gain for AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA). Apple (AAPL) Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and Broadcom (AVGO) also gained ground.
Investors were keeping a close eye on remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Powell, who spoke at an event in New York this afternoon, ahead of the critical 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:November jobs report that is slated to be released Friday morning.
The Fed chief said that the U.S. economy is in good shape—with unemployment remaining low and progress being made on inflation—and that the Fed can be cautious as it considers further cuts to interest rates. The Fed's final rate-policy meeting of the year is set for two weeks from today, and investors expect the central bank to announce a quarter-point cut to the benchmark fed funds rate.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated with expectations about where rates are headed, fell to 4.19%, down from Tuesday's closing level of 4.22%.
Gold futures rose slightl꧅y on Wednesday to $2,675 an ounce, while crude 🎐oil futures were down about 1.5%.
Bitcoin Levels to Watch as Cryptocurrency Soars Above $100K
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) soared abov⛎e $100,000 for the first time late Wednesday as investors bet that the incoming Trump administration and Congress will support policies that benefit the cryptocurrency market.
Wednesday's rally followed news that President-elect Donald Trump 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:named c﷽rypto enthusiast Paul Atkins to lead the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Sec🧸urities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins would replace 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:crypto critic Garry Gensler♈, who said he would step down in January.
Bitcoin was recently trading at $103,300, up from around $95,000 before news of the SEC nomination. Since the election, Bitcoin has surged more than 45% as investors bid up the digital asset on expectations of more 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:crypto-friendly policies.
With the move, Bitcoin has broken out above a newly formed pennant, a ജchart pattern that signals a continuation of the crypt꧋ocurrency’s current move higher.
A m🥂easure moved, which calculates﷽ the move higher that preceded the pennant and adds that amount to the pattern’s top trendline, projects a bullish target of $129,930.
Investors should monitor key support levels on Bitcoin's chart around $90,500, $80,500 and $70,000.
Read the full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:technical analysis piece here.
Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Wednesday
Advancers
- Shares of customer relationship management software provider Salesforce (CRM) led the S&P 500 higher on Wednesday, popping 11%. Several research analysts 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:lifted their price targets on the stock after Salesforce 澳洲幸运💫5官方开奖结果体彩网:boosted its full-year sales and profit ꧂guidance. Analysts noted that Agentforce, the company's autonomous artificial intelligence offering, has been drawing attention from clients since its October launch.
- Salesforce was not the only enterprise software stock to enjoy strong gains. ServiceNow (NOW), which also offers AI solutions to help automate business processes, announced an expansion of its partnership with Amazon (AMZN), further integrating ServiceNow's platform with Amazon's Web Services and Bedrock generative AI capabilities. ServiceNow shares surged 6.2% on Wednesday, while Amazon shares were up 2.2%.
- Edwards Lifesciences (EW) shares added 5.7% after the medical device maker laid out its growth strategy at its annual investor conference. The specialist in structural heart solutions highlighted its pipeline of new technologies, upbeat financial outlook, and market opportunities from several of its heart valve repair and replacement treatments.
Decliners
- Shares of Texas Pacific Land (TPL) dropped 11.6%, suffering the heaviest daily decline in the S&P 500 for the second time this week. The stock has been volatile since its addition to the benchmark index late last month. A major landowner in the oil-rich Permian Basin, the century-old land trust has been exploring opportunities to diversify its revenue streams, including bitcoin mining and renewable energy projects.
- Campbell's (CPB) shares sank 6.2% after the packaged food maker reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales, with elevated marketing expenses contributing to a year-over-year profit decline. CEO Mark Clouse said he would step down from his role at the soup and snack manufacturer to become president of the National Football League's Washington Commanders.
- Bank of America's commodities team reduced its lithium price outlook. Analysts noted that, even as high-cost producers of the key battery mineral scale back their operations, surplus conditions are likely to remain in the lithium market over the next two years. Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world's largest lithium miner, fell 5.9%.
- MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX) shares slipped 5.5% after the operator of an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities released trading data from November. Although average daily trading volume grew 56% year-over-year, the figure fell 3% month-over-month. The platform saw sequential declines in volumes and market share in the U.S. high-grade and U.S. high-yield segments.
Major Indexes Keep Adding to Post-Election Gains
The Dow Jones Indu♔strial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each hit intraday and closing highs on Wednesday, led by a rally in technology stocks, extending a month-long post-election rally.
Since the close of trading on election day, Nov. 5, the Nasdaq has gained 7%, while the Dow and the S&P 500 have adde💧d 6.6% and 5.3%, respectively.
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Investors are optim💦istic that the incoming Trump administration and Republican-led Congress will impleme🍸nt pro-growth policies that will translate into strong corporate earnings and continued stock market gains.
Since the start of the year, the Nasd🐻aq is now up 31.5%. The S&P 500 has risen 27.6%, while the Dow has tacked on 19.4%.
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Chipotle Stock Climbs as Menu Prices Increase
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is raising prices across the U.S., the company said Wednesday. “For the first time in over a year, we have taken a modest price increase of approximately 2% nationally to offset inflation,” Chipotle Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laurie Schalow said in an email to Investopedia.
New 澳洲ꦿ幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:C⛎hief Executive Officer (CEO) Scott Boatwright, elevated to the top job last month, on the company’s most-recent 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings conference call in October said there was “nothing planned today, but that's not to say we wouldn't look at a pricing action at some point in the future.” A Wall Street Journal&nbs🐠p;article last week alluded ಌto the possibility of higher prices at Chipotle.
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Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Shares of Chipotle rose 4.9% ꦐto $63.90 Wednesday, leaving the❀m 40% higher this year so far.
“The menu price increase is earlier than we … expected” and “a positive for the stock, in our view,” Truist Securities analysts wrote Wednesday. “We believe CMG is taking the menu price from a point of strength.” The analysts edged their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:price target on t♛he shares up $2 to $74, 🍸a bit above Wall Street’s average of $68 per Visible Alpha data.
The effects of the menu price increases would lik𒁃ely be seen in the company’s fourth-quarter financial results, s🌳et for release in early February.
Chewy Stock Slides After Weak Earnings
Chewy (CHWY) shares fell Wednesday after the online pet supplies retailer miss🔥ed profit forecasts as the number o🍎f active customers fell and costs rose.
The company reported third-quarter adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20, while the average estimate of analysts surve🐬yed by Visible Alpha was $0.23. Revenue rose 4.8% year-over-year to $2.88 billion, slightly more than expected.
Chewy said active customers declined 0.5% to 20.16 million an𓃲d operating expenses rose 3.3% to $818.2 million.
Chewy anticipates cuꦐrrent-quarter sales of $3.18 billion to $3.20 billion. It revised its full-year sales outlook to $11.79 billion to $11.81 billion from the previous $1🌃1.60 billion to $11.80 billion.
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Chewy shares were down 4% in recent trading. Despite today's decline, they're up about 35% higher this year.
The stock has had an interesting run in 2024 after 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:meme stock hero Keith Gill, better known as "澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roaring Kitty," took a large stake in the company over the summer, only to dump it a few months later.
Okta Stock Rises on Strong Earnings, Outlook
Shares of Okta (OKTA) rose Wednesday, a day after the business security softwar♚e provider posted better-than-expected results🐲 and current-quarter guidance as subscription revenue rose.
The company reported third-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67, with revenue rising 14% year-over-year to $665 milli🐬on. Both exceeded consensus estimates of analysts polled by Visibleও Alpha. Subscription revenue gained 14% to $651 million.
Okta anticiꦺpates fourth-quarter adjusted EPS in the range of $0.73 to $0ꦕ.74, and revenue of $667 million to $669 million, ahead of forecasts.
Okta shares were up 5% in mid-afternoon trading, narrowing t🧔heir year-to-date losses to about 5%.
Trump Names Paul Atkins to Lead SEC
President-elect Donald Trump named Paul Atkins to lead the 澳洲幸运🐽5官方开奖结果体彩网:Sec𓃲urities and Exchange Commission (SEC), his latest move to fill key financi♑al roles in t𝐆he next administration.
Atkins, CEO of Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Patomak Global Partners, was an SEC Commissioner under former President George W. Bush and has worked lately on issues related to digit♎al assets—a subject expected to be a focus of the incoming Trump adꦿministration.
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David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images
"Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations," Trump wrote Wednesday on the Truth Social platform.
"He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before."
The SEC is broadly responsible for oversight of financial markets and investor protection. Atkins, who would require Senate confirmation, would succeed Gary Gensler, who last month said 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:he would step down in January.
Trump recently named billionaire hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent his 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:pick for Treasury Secretary and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Howard Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department. Media reports have also suggested that Trump is considering 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:possible replacements for Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump likely would have the opportunity tꦅo replace several SE🎶C commissioners whose terms are set to expire during his administration.
Wall Street Bullish on Salesforce Amid AI Demand
Salesforce (CRM) shares jumped to a record high Wednesday after the company 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:raised its full-year outlook, and analysts are offeriဣng increasingly bullish price targets.
Stifel maintained its “outperform” rating and raised its price target to💎 $425 from $390.
The firm called Salesforce “the best way to play AI” due to its multi-cloud customer base and its ability to “drive market penetration” with its Customer 360 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:customer relationship management platform.
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Brontë Wittpenn / San Francisco Chronicle via Gett🧸y Images
Then there’s Agentforce, Salesforce’s suite of a൲utonomous AI agents made generally available on October 25. Agentforce was included in 200 deals in the quarter, “underscoring healthy early interest,” analysts at Bank of America said.
The bank upped its🐭 price target to $440 from $390.
Salesforce has “a combined market share of only 15% and a ℱformidable competitive moat,” BofA added. “[W]e believe a long runway exists for Salesforce to continue gro🦩wing.”
Salesforce shares were up 8% at around $358 in recent trading.꧑
Marvell Levels to Watch as Stock Soars After Strong Earnings
Marvell Technology (MRVL) ju🌠mped Wednesday morning after the chipmaker posted strong quarterly results and issued a rosy outlook amid robust demand for its custom AI chips.
The stock broke out from an ascending triওangle on above-average volume early this week, a bullish chart pattern that indica🙈tes a continuation of the uptrend.
A bars pattern, which takes the price bars from the stock’s trending move between💮 October and November and repositions them from the ascending triangle’s lower trendline, forecasts a price target of around $120.
Investors should monitor important support levels on Marvell's chart around $95, $84 and $76.
✨The stock was up 22% at around $117 in recent trading and is up about 90% since the start 💫of 2024.
Read the full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:technical analysis piece here.
Foot Locker Stock Slides on Surprise Loss, Slashed Guidance
Foot Locker (FL) shares tumbled Wednesday after the company posted an unexpected third-qu﷽arter loss and cut its full-year outlook.
The athletic sneaker retailer reported a loss of $33 million or 34 cents per share, compared to a profit of $28 million or 30 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts tracked by Vᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ🐟ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚisible Alpha had called for profit to increase year-over-year to $37 million. Revenue was $1.96 billion, down 1.4% year-over-year and above the Street’s expectations.
CEO Mary Dillon said the loss occurred as "[c]onsumer spending trends softened following the peak back-to-school period" and "the promotional environment was more elevated than anticipated." Selling, general, and administr💟ative ex𓄧penses (SG&A), which includ🔥es marketing spending, rose 8% year-o❀ver-year to $482 million.
Foot Locker also got more conservative with its full-year forecast. It now expects sales to fall between 1.5% and 1% from $8.15 billion in 2023, compared to a prior range of a 1% loss to 1% growth. Adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share are expected to land between $1.20𒐪 and $1.30, down from $1.50 to $1.70. Analysts had called for $1.55.
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Shares of Foot Locker were down 12% in recent trading and have lost nearly a third of their value since the beginning of ꧒🎃the year.
Dollar Tree Stock Rises as Earnings Top Estimates
Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares rose Wednesday morning after the discouℱnt retailer reported beඣtter-than-expected third-quarter results.
The company recorded $7.57 billion in revenue and $233.3 million in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:net income, up from $7.🐈31 billion and $212.0 million a year ago.
The company the projects full-year revenue of between $30.7 billion and $30.9 billion, with the bottom end lifted from $30.6 billion previously. Full-year adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share (EPS) is seen between $5.31 and $5.51, compared with the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:previous range of $5.20 to $5.60.
Dollar Tree said that its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:"strategic review" of options for the Family Dollar brand announced in 🧜June "remains on track," with no set timeline to be completed. Roughly a decade after Dollar Tree acquired the brand, a sale or spinoff ♊remains a possibility.
Of the nearly 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:1,000 "underperfo𓃲rming" Family Dollar locations that the company said it planned to shut down e෴arlier this year, Dollar Tree has closed about𒈔 670 through Q3, and expects to close another 25 in the fourth quarter.
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Dollar Tree shares jumped 5% at the o💞pen Wednesday and were up about 1.5% recently. The stock has lost half its value since the start of theꦯ year.
Palantir Levels to Watch as Stock Hits Record High
Palantir (PLTR) shares are likely to remain in focus today after jumping to a new high yesterday following news that the analytics software provider's entire product suite has received approval ꦚfor use in processiꦏng sensitive federal workloads.
Since breaking out from a pennant last week, Palantir shares have continued to trend higher, with gains accelerating following Tuesday's news.
While the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum above the 70 threshold, the indicator also 😼flashes overbought conditions that could lead to shortಞ-term profit-taking.
The measuring principle, which calculates the d﷽istance of the impulsive trend that preceded the pennant and adds that amount to the pattern’s upper trendline, forecasts an upside price 🔯target in the stock of $89.
Investors should watch important support levels on Palantir's chart around $58.50, $45, and $38.
Palantir shares were up 1% at $71.70 about an hour before Wednesday's opening bell. The stock gained nearly 7% on Tuesday.
Read the full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:technical analysis piece here.
Major Stock Indexes Poised to Open Higher
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Avꦍerage wereܫ up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.7%.
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