Stocks ticked higher on Monday as Wall Street maintained its positive momentum heading towards the final trading days of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a positive flatline, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite rose roughly 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.45% or +21.37 points to 4,740.56
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.00% or +0.86 points to 37,306.02
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.61% or +90.89 points to 14,904.81
As market participants set their sights on the new year, Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said in a Monday note that the firm expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 25 basis points three consecutive times in the first half of 2024, with "such an adjustment [resembling] the 1995, 1998, and 2019 episodes."
Moreover, goldman forecasts for two more cuts in the second half of 2024, as inflation shows signs of cooling throughout the global economy.
"Averaging across the broad group of economies that saw a large and unwanted post-covid price surge -the G10 excluding Japan plus the EM early hikers - we estimate that core inflation ran at a sequential annualized pace of 2.2% over the past three months and just 1.3% in November. We therefore now see earlier and more aggressive rate cuts from several major DM central banks," Hatzius added.
In single-stock news, U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) shares popped 26% on Monday after Japanese steel company Nippon Steel announced it would buy the company in a $14.9 billion deal, representing $55 per share.
Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Figma announced Monday the pair terminated their planned $20 billion merger due to regulatory hurdles. In a statement, the two companies said "that is no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals form the European Commision and the U.S. Competition and Markets Authority."
Adobe first announced it would acquire the cloud-based design platform in 2022. Now, Adobe will pay Figma a $1 billion fee to terminate the merger, according to a regulatory filing.
"Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently," Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, wrote in a statement. "While Adobe and Figma shared a vision to jointly redefine the future of creativity and productivity, we continue to be well positioned to capitalize on our massive market opportunity and mission to change the world through personalized digital experiences."
Looking ahead, the S&P 500 rests just slightly 1% below its all-time closing high of 4,796.56 its set in January 2022, so it is expected for the broader market benchmark to post near highs before next January as the holiday-season's strength continues. Market participants will also be met with fresh data on housing and building starts for November on Tuesday.