US stocks closed mixed today. The Dow Jones fell after losses at JPMorgan, but companies linked to artificial intelligence (AI) performed well, led by Nvidia and Alphabet. .The Dow Jones index fell 466 points, or 0.94 percent, to 48,996.08 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 23.89 points, or 0.34 percent, to 6,920.93 points. The Nasdaq technology market index rose 37.1 points, or 0.16 percent, to 23,584.28 points.
Investors flock back to AI stocks
Shares of technology companies Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Amazon, and Alphabet strengthened as investors returned to AI-related stocks after recent concerns about overvaluation. Investor interest in major AI players is also underscored by Anthropic’s plans for extensive financing, which point to strong market confidence in the sector. According to sources, the owner of the Claude chatbot plans to raise billions of dollars in funding, which would value it at $350 billion. That would make the private company more valuable than AMD, Chevron, and Wells Fargo, for example.
JPMorgan shares fell after Wolfe Research downgraded the bank’s stock. Shares of real estate companies also weakened after President Donald Trump announced that his administration plans to ban Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes in order to lower real estate prices.
US job openings fall, dollar strengthens
Today’s data from the US Department of Labor showed that the number of job openings in the US fell more than expected in November. Recruitment of new employees then slowed. This suggests that demand for labor continues to decline. According to ADP data, private wages recovered less than expected in December. However, the latest labor market data did not have a major impact on expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), and investors are focusing more on Friday’s important broader unemployment report, Reuters wrote.
The dollar strengthened slightly against a basket of currencies today in anticipation of the unemployment report. The dollar index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a basket of six major world currencies, rose 0.1 percent to 98.71 points. The euro weakened 0.1 percent against the dollar to USD 1.1678. The dollar rose 0.1 percent against the yen to JPY 156.78. The euro remained almost unchanged against the yen at JPY 183.08.
Source: Reuters
