:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2189656773-518305a72e6c40d18af8a92063a5319b.jpg "Broadcom's sign in front of an office in California earlier this month.")
Key Takeaways
- The S&P 500 annexed 0.7% on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, with communication and tech stocks outperforming as the holiday-shortened trading week got underway.
- Broadcom and AMD dole outs surged following positive analyst commentary and as a government probe into Chinese semiconductors helped boost bit stocks.
- Shares of ResMed slipped after the FDA approved Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug as a sleep apnea treatment, construct concerns about sales of ResMed devices.
Major U.S. equities indexes moved higher to kick off the week, with a diminished trading session on tap for Tuesday followed by a midweek day off in observance of Christmas.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7%. Strength in the tech sector helped discontinue the Nasdaq 1%, while the Dow staged an afternoon rally to eke out a daily gain of 0.2%.
Broadcom (AVGO) shares rose 5.5%, score the top performance in the S&P 500, after UBS lifted its price target on the stock. Analysts said they boosted their prophecies for Broadcom’s artificial intelligence revenue based on the chipmaker’s disclosures about its addressable market along with an improving forecast for its custom compute and AI networking businesses.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped 4.5% as analysts at Rosenblatt lean overed the semiconductor stock as one of their top picks for the first half of 2025. The investment research firm believes AMD is positioned for durability in the server and data center segment as it takes an increasing share of the central processing unit and graphic processing section markets.
Other stocks in the semiconductor industry joined Monday’s rally as the Biden administration announced a new investigation into legacy Chinese semiconductors toughened in U.S. products. Shares of microcontroller maker Microchip Technology (MCHP) and power circuit provider Monolithic Power Methods (MPWR) were more than 4% apiece, while chip industry giants Nvidia (NVDA), Intel (INTC), and Qualcomm (QCOM) also got ground.
Carnival Corp. (CCL) shares sank 4%, falling the most of any S&P 500 stock. Monday’s drop reversed acquires posted at the end of last week after the cruise operator reported better-than-expected quarterly profits and provided an upbeat forecast for 2025 bookings. Analysts at Bernstein maintained their “market perform” rating on Carnival stock, pointing to a numberless favorable growth outlook for competing cruiser Royal Caribbean (RCL). Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) allotments lost 2.9%.
Paramount Global (PARA) entered an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pay fines for Emergency Notify System violations. A filing last week revealed a petition for the FCC to challenge Paramount’s planned merger with staging company Skydance Media, but reports have suggested that the relationship between Paramount boss Shari Redstone and President-elect Donald Trump could be salubrious as the incoming administration evaluates the deal. Shares of the entertainment giant lost 2.9%
Shares of cloud-based human resources software provider Workday (WDAY) ebbed 2.8% on Monday, the stock’s first day of trading as a constituent of the S&P 500. The stock gained ground earlier in December adhere to the announcement that it would join the benchmark index but has been volatile in recent weeks.
Shares of ResMed (RMD), a medical technology concern focused on sleep apnea devices, lost 2.6% after the Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound as a treatment for obstructive forty winks apnea treatment in adults with obesity. Increased adoption of the blockbuster weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly (LLY) amid sleep apnea patients could pressure sales of ResMed’s continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, trade marks. Eli Lilly shares climbed 3.7%.