Stocks Rally as Strength in Tech Boosts Market Sentiment

Economic Outlook - New York Fed President John Williams expressed optimism about the economy, stating that current data is "pretty encouraging" and sees no signs of a sharp deterioration in job data [1] - He projected US GDP growth for this year to be between 1.5% and 1.75%, with expectations of growth picking up next year [1] - The University of Michigan's December 1-year inflation expectations were revised upward to 4.2% from 4.1% [1] Consumer Sentiment and Housing Market - The University of Michigan's December consumer sentiment index was unexpectedly revised downward by -0.4 to 52.9, below expectations of 53.5 [2] - Existing home sales in the US for November rose by +0.5% month-over-month to a 9-month high of 4.13 million, although this was weaker than the expected 4.15 million [2] Stock Market Performance - Stock indexes closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 up by +0.88%, the Dow Jones up by +0.38%, and the Nasdaq 100 up by +1.31% [6] - A rally in cloud infrastructure stocks, particularly Oracle which rose more than 7%, contributed to improved market sentiment [5] - The overall market was also supported by gains in chipmakers, with Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices seeing significant increases [14] Bond Market Dynamics - Higher bond yields limited stock gains, with the 10-year T-note yield rising by +2 bp to 4.15% [3] - The yield curve has steepened since the last FOMC meeting, indicating bearish sentiment for T-note prices [10] International Market Trends - Overseas stock markets also settled higher, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up by +0.32%, Shanghai Composite up by +0.36%, and Japan's Nikkei Stock 225 up by +1.03% [8] Notable Stock Movements - Cloud infrastructure stocks saw significant gains, with CoreWeave up +23% and Applied Digital up +16% [13] - Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks rose, with Bitcoin increasing by more than +2% and Riot Platforms closing up more than +8% [15] - Carnival's stock rose more than +9% after reporting better-than-expected Q2 adjusted EPS [17] - Lamb Weston Holdings led the S&P 500 losers, down more than -25% after forecasting lower-than-expected full-year net sales [19]