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large tech shares power Nasdaq to record high close. Bitcoin also climbs before Fed conference


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large tech shares power Nasdaq to record high close. Bitcoin also climbs before Fed conference

Portrait of Medora Lee Medora Lee

USA TODAY

Another day, another rally by mega tech stocks.

Shares of iPhone maker Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, electric car maker Tesla and AI-chipmaker Broadcom all rallied to recent all-period highs, which helped power the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its own record peak. The Nasdaq closed up 1.24%, or 247.17 points, at a record 20,173.89.

The broad S&P 500 index ended up 0.38%, or 22.99 points, at 6,074.08 and the blue-chip Dow slipped for an eight consecutive session for its longest streak of declines since 2018. It closed down 0.25%, or 110.58 points, at 43,717.48.

All eyes are on the Federal safety net’s policy conference, which ends on Wednesday afternoon. Although the Fed’s expected to trim its short-term, standard fed funds rate again by a quarter percentage point, many economists expect the central lender to signal a slower pace of rate cuts next year and revise its economic outlook.

“This could be the last cut for a while,” said Jacob Channel, elder economist at comparison site LendingTree. “Because the upcoming Trump Administration’s policies might factor a resurgence in expense boost or otherwise throw the economy off equilibrium, the Fed might choose to receive a wait-and-view way and hold rates steady at their January conference.”

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Winners and losers

The day’s winners included:

Broadcom (AVGO): The chip software business extended its rally off its better-than-expected profits update late Thursday and powerful outlook. Shares are now up more than 120% for the year.

Bitcoin: The cryptocurrency surged to an all-period high above $107,000 after MicroStrategy said it bought an additional 15,350 bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 439,000, worth about $46 billion.

Companies with the largest declines included:

Super Micro Computer (SMCI): The AI server business said its auditor resigned this fall and its shares will be axed from the Nasdaq-100.

Nvidia (NVDA): The AI chip business’s shares slipped, putting it officially into correction territory, traders said. Shares are down more than 10% from its closing high of $148.88 reached last month. Analysts said money’s moving into other AI-related companies after Nvidia’s 166% run up this year.

FILE PHOTO: The Wall Street bull is seen in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Elsewhere around the markets

Oil fell 1% to $70.58 per barrel after China reported soft retail sales data.

The 10-year Treasury profit dipped to 4.397% ahead of an expected Fed rate cut.

Medora Lee is a money, markets and expense management reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for expense management tips and business information every Monday through Friday morning. 

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