Technology stocks stood tall in the first week of December trading, helping the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finish Friday’s session at record closing highs. Read more : RFK Jr. tells Jim Cramer: Weight-loss drugs shouldn’t replace healthy eating, not against all vaccines The tech-heavy Nasdaq lead the way with a 3.3% gain for the week. The S & P 500 closed nearly 1% higher. Both indexes are now riding three-week win streaks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , meanwhile, pulled back last week. The 30-stock gauge was largely weighed down by shares of UnitedHealth Group, which came under pressure after the CEO of its insurance segment, Brian Thompson, was killed in a targeted attack in New York City . .IXIC .SPX 1M mountain The Nasdaq Composite versus the S & P 500 over the past month. The big economic release of the week arrived Friday in the form of the November nonfarm payrolls report . The U.S. economy added more jobs than economists had predicted — 227,000 versus the Dow Jones estimate of 214,000 — while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%, as expected. Average hourly earnings were up 4% on a 12-month basis, a pinch above expectations. Economists and investors alike keep a close eye on that metric to help understand inflationary pressures in the economy. Odds of another quarter-point cut rate at the Federal Reserve’s mid-December policy meeting increased following Friday’s jobs data, according to the CME FedWatch tool . Earlier in the week, a look at private-sector job growth from payroll processor ADP came in a bit below forecasts, at 146,000 versus the 161,500 estimate. The week’s batch of non-jobs economic data was relatively mixed. On Monday, a better-than-expected November ISM manufacturing report still showed that the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted last month — but at a slower pace than what we saw in October, at least. The reading was 48.4 versus 47.5 expected. Anything below 50 indicates contraction. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department’s look at October factory orders on Wednesday was in line with expectations, up 0.2% compared with the prior month. That put an end to two-month streak of declines. Also on Wednesday, the November ISM services report — a look at activity in industries from health care to forestry to finance, among others — came in solidly below projections, at 52.1 versus 55.5 expected. Nevertheless, it pointed to continued expansion in a critical part of the U.S. economy. November marked the fifth consecutive month of services expansion in the ISM report. And now 51 out of 54 readings since June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic have been expansionary. Within the portfolio, Salesforce provided a very positive update after the close on Tuesday. The enterprise software giant reported solid earnings and offered upbeat commentary on its new artificial intelligence platform Agentforce , which sent shares jumping in Wednesday’s session. Salesforce finished the week as the second best Club stock, climbing 9.7%. The only better performer was Broadcom , which gained 10.8% thanks in large part to a 5.3% surge in Friday’s session. The rally Friday accelerated after a Bloomberg News report said fellow Club holding Apple expects to continue using a radio-frequency chip from Broadcom in the iPhone. Previous reporting suggested Apple planned to drop it next year. Salesforce and Broadcom contributed to the S & P 500’s technology sector being one of three to finish the week in positive territory, adding 3.4%. Tech was joined in the green by top-performing consumer discretionary, which gained 5.85%, and communication services, which rose 4.1% for second place. Big advances for Tesla and Club name Amazon helped lift the consumer discretionary sector to the No. 1 spot — and that’s notable given both stocks are usually lumped in with the broader “tech trade” despite their formal classification. A similar story played out in communication services, with its three biggest constituents by market cap — Google parent Alphabet , Meta Platforms , and Netflix — all climbing. We own Alphabet and Meta for the Club. The remaining eight sectors in the S & P 500 ended the week lower, led to the downside by energy, utilities, and materials. Energy stocks didn’t get any help from commodities. U.S. crude prices suffered their second straight weekly loss, down 1.2%, while natural gas futures slid 8.5%, their first negative week in seven. In the coming days, inflation data will command a great deal of attention — plus, we’ll get earnings from two of the best performing Club holdings this year. Economy All eyes will be on the November consumer price index due out Wednesday morning. Economists are expecting to see a 2.7% year-over-year increase at the headline level, according to Dow Jones. The consensus estimate for core CPI, which strips out the impact of volatile food and energy prices, is a 3.2% annual rise, per Dow Jones. The shelter price index will be an important component of the CPI report, given that housing costs have been a huge source of upward pressure on inflation. The November producer price index will be out Thursday, with economists forecasting a 0.2% increase from the prior month, according to Dow Jones. The consensus for core PPI, which also excludes food and energy, is a 0.2% month-over-month increase, too. The PPI report isn’t as closely watched as the CPI reading, but it is still important because it tracks input costs for various businesses. Those inputs impact profit margins and therefore can influence the final selling prices of goods. In that sense, it can help foreshadow future CPI reports. Both reports are particularly notable because they’ll be our last update on inflation before the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting, which wraps up Dec. 18. That’s when the central bank will announce its decision on interest rates followed by Chair Jerome Powell’s closely watched press conference. Earnings Broadcom and Costco are both set to report after the close Thursday. For the three months ended in October, Wall Street expects that Broadcom earned $1.38 per share on sales of $14.1 billion, according to estimates compiled by LSEG, as of Friday. In addition to the headline numbers, we’re interested in hearing about the momentum in Broadcom’s AI networking business, which has proven to be the real growth driver over the past year. We also want to see further confirmation that its legacy hardware businesses — think chips used in end markets such as wireless, broadband and industrial — remains in the process of rebounding. On the software side, management’s commentary on the blockbuster VMWare acquisition will be front and center. How is the overall demand environment? How is the integration into Broadcom going, and is it leading to any additional sales opportunities? And finally, any updates on Broadcom’s capital return plans will be notable. Analysts at Wells Fargo are expecting Broadcom to increase its dividend payout by 12% to 15% and perhaps announce board authorization for a new share repurchase program. For Costco, the Street is looking for quarterly sales of $62.1 billion and earnings of $3.79 per share, according to LSEG, as of Friday. Keep in mind that Costco’s topline is largely known as this point because the company provides sales data on a monthly basis. Instead, the focus will be on profits and shopping activity, such as foot traffic and buyer preferences. We’re also interested to hear if the implementation of card scanners has sparked an increase in membership signups — something analysts at Morgan Stanley have suggested could lead to a “Netflix moment” for the retailer . Week ahead Monday, Dec. 9 After the bell: Oracle (ORCL), MongoDB (MDB), Toll Brothers (TOL), Casey’s General Stores (CASY), and C3.ai (AI) Tuesday, Dec. 10 Before the bell: AutoZone (AZN), Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO), Ollie’s Bargain (OLLI), and Designer Brands (DBI) After the bell: GameStop (GME), Stitch Fix (SFIX), and Dave & Buster’s (PLAY) Wednesday, Dec. 11 8:30 a.m. ET: consumer price index Before the bell: Macy’s (M) and REV Group (REVG) After the bell: Adobe (ADBE) and Nordson (NDSN) Thursday, Dec. 12 8:30 a.m. ET: initial jobless claims 8:30 a.m. ET: producer price index Before the bell: Ciena (CIEN) After the bell: Broadcom (AVGO) and Costco (COST) (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CRM, AVGO, META, GOOGL, AMZN and AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
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