Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on June 24, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 rose to new highs in Wednesday’s shortened trading session as investors appeared to shrug off sluggish economic data.
The broad market index added 0.51%, closing at 5,537.02. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.88%, ending the session at 18,188.30, as megacap technology names such as Tesla and Nvidia rallied. Both indexes touched fresh all-time highs in the session and closed at records.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23.85 points, or 0.06%, to end at 39,308.00. The 30-stock index was weighed down by a nearly 1.7% drop in UnitedHealth.
Trading volume was muted Wednesday with the New York Stock Exchange closing early at 1 p.m. ET. The exchange will be shut on Thursday for Independence Day.
Investors parsed stats released Wednesday morning showing softening in the economy ahead of Friday’s all-important June jobs report. ADP data showed less private payroll growth than expected in June, while weekly jobless claims numbers came in higher than economists forecast.
A reading of service sector activity released later in the morning was considerably weaker than expected and indicated a contraction, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
These reports could concern investors about the state of the economy. But stocks found support from a decline in bond yields as traders grew increasingly hopeful that the Federal Reserve has seen sufficient evidence of economic tightening to begin cutting interest rates. Notably, the rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell for a second day in a row on Wednesday.
Tesla’s ongoing ascent after a better-than-expected deliveries report also boosted the broader market. The electric vehicle maker’s stock jumped 6.5% on Wednesday, rising for a seventh straight session. That marked its first winning streak of that length in 2024.
“Everybody hated Tesla three months ago. But now, they’re having their day in the sun,” said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. Tesla’s rally sets “a bullish tone for the market overall.”
Artificial intelligence darling Nvidia jumped around 4.6%, also helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperform.
After Wednesday’s early closing bell, traders will watch for minutes from the June Federal Open Market Committee meeting expected at 2 p.m. ET.
