The market had taken a breather the previous week but returned to the upward trend initiated by the US elections. The Russell 2000 and S&P Mid Cap 400 benefited from a rotation into smaller cap stocks, gaining 4.5% and 4.2%, respectively. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each moved 1.7% higher and the Dow Jones settled 2.0% higher. The week started out on a cautious note, reacting to rising geopolitical tensions, but the dip-buyers ultimately stepped in. Crypto-related names were another winner, which were reacting to the rise in the price of Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency reached a new high of $99,768 on Friday.
Losses in some mega cap names, specifically Alphabet (GOOG) served as a drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Shares of Alphabet fell 4.2% last week after news that the Department of Justice is pushing for a forced sale of Chrome and potentially Android. Subsequent reports indicated that Microsoft-backed OpenAI is considering developing its own browser, which would represent a viable competitive threat to Alphabet’s Chrome. Another laggard was NVIDIA (NVDA), which settled flat on the week. NVDA’s quarterly report garnered mixed responses due to the guidance for the next quarter coming in below the “whisper” number. The company did offer some support to the semiconductor sector by saying demand for its Blackwell chip is “staggering.”
Target (TGT) was another notable loser this week, dropping 17.8% last week after its disappointing quarterly report and guidance. On the other hand, Walmart (WMT) jumped 7.4% last week following its report.