US markets end higher on Monday

24 Dec 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Monday with Nasdaq settling higher by around one percent. The advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq came amid a rally by semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 3.1 percent. Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Outside the tech sector, pharmaceutical stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index up by 2.1 percent. However, overall trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid what is likely to be a relatively quiet week due to the Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday. The markets are also scheduled to close earlier than usual for Christmas Eve on Tuesday, leading to below average trading activity.

On the economic data front, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped by much more than expected in the month of November. The report said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1 percent in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in October. Street had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month. Excluding a steep drop by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in November after inching up by 0.2 percent in October. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.69 points or 0.16 percent to 42,906.95, Nasdaq surged 192.29 points or 0.98 percent to 19,764.88 and S&P 500 was up by 43.22 points or 0.73 percent to 5,974.07.