Stocks – Nasdaq Tops 8,900 as Rally Rolls On

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Investing.com – Stocks hit record intraday and closing highs Friday, and the Index topped 8,900 for the first time as the December market rally continued.

The closed up 0.42% at about 8,925 on a day when stocks shot higher at the open and basically stayed there. The gain puts the 9,000 level within reach.

The Index closed up 0.49% at 3,221, with strength in consumer staples, energy, health care and technology stocks.

The jumped nearly 232 points at the open, but the index gave up about two-thirds of its gain, primarily on weakness in Boeing (NYSE:) and Nike (NYSE:). The blue chips ended up 0.28%, or 78 points, at 28,455

Boeing (NYSE:) was down 1.65% after United Airlines (NASDAQ:) said it is taking off flights using the 737 Max jetliner until at least June 4. Spirit Aerosystems Holdings (NYSE:) said it will halt production of new 737 Max fuselages until the plane is recertified. Spirit shares fell about 1%.

Boeing’s loss to $328 cut the Dow’s gain by more than 37 points.

Nike (NYSE:) fell back 1.2% because the stocks had had a big recent run that made a modest miss in third-quarter gross profit margin a reason to sell.

The overall market was cheered by continued hopes that the U.S.-China trade deal would come together. In addition, the Commerce Department reported better-than-expected gains in personal income and spending in November.

Some 308 stocks hit 52-week highs on the day. Among these were 10 stocks, including Apple (NASDAQ:), Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:). In addition, a number of big tech stocks hit new highs, including Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:), Autodesk (NASDAQ:) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:).

The next two weeks will see lower volumes as traders and investors take time off for the holidays.

The S&P finished the week with a 1.65% gain. The Dow added 1.14%, while the Nasdaq moved up 2,18%.

For the year, the is up nearly 29%, with the Nasdaq up more than 34% and the up 22%.

So far in December, the S&P is up 2.55%, which would be its best December since 2004. The Nasdaq is up 2.99%, also its best showing since December 2004. The Dow’s December gain is 1.44%

But what a difference from December 2018 when the S&P fell 6.2%, the Nasdaq dropped 9.5%, and the Dow fell 8.66%.

All that said, the relative strength indexes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which can help gauge a market trend’s strength, ended the day above 75. That’s a clear signal that a sell-off is coming, when it is unknown.

Oil prices moved lower, but interest rates were pulled higher by the rally in stocks.

crude fell 74 cents to $60.44 a barrel. , the global benchmark, dropped 40 cents to $66.14.

The Treasury yield rose to 1.917% from Thursday’s 1.908%.

Flowserve (NYSE:), which makes pumps and valves; sports-clothing retailer Under Armour C (NYSE:), marketing and advertising company Omnicom Group (NYSE:) and biotech company Illumina (NASDAQ:) were among the top S&P 500 stocks on the day.

Used-car retailer CarMax (NYSE:), medical device maker ABIOMED (NASDAQ:), networking company F5 Networks (NASDAQ:) and dental supply company Henry Schein (NASDAQ:) were among the weakest S&P 500 stocks.

Flowserve (NYSE:), which makes pumps and valves; sports-clothing retailer Under Armour C (NYSE:), marketing and advertising company Omnicom Group (NYSE:) and biotech company Illumina (NASDAQ:) were among the top S&P 500 stocks on the day.

Used-car retailer CarMax (NYSE:), medical device maker ABIOMED (NASDAQ:), networking company F5 Networks (NASDAQ:) and dental supply company Henry Schein (NASDAQ:) were among the weakest S&P 500 stocks.