Wall Street ‘froth’ marks weekly win, record high for S&P and bitcoin piercing $100K

The S&P 500 (SP500) on Friday advanced 0.96% for the week to end at 6,090.27 points, posting gains in four out of five sessions. Its accompanying SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) added 0.88% for the week.

Friday’s session cemented the benchmark’s (SP500) 57th record closing high in 2024, and a third-straight weekly win. The index, up +27% this year, also crossed above 6,100 for the first time on record.

Another asset notched a milestone this week: bitcoin (BTC-USD) vaulted above $100,000 for the first time. The cryptocurrency has shot up ~127% this year. “Froth [is] forming in crypto,” and in large-cap stocks, Bank of America Investment Strategist Michael Hartnett said Friday.

He noted the S&P 500’s (SP500) 5.3x price-to-book ratio has surpassed a March 2000 high – when the market was wrapped up in the dot-com frenzy. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) $2T valuation is around the size of the 11th largest economy in the world, Hartnett said in a note.

The Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) also notched a record-high close on Friday, and while the Dow (DJI) slipped, the blue-chip gauge this week marked its first-ever finish above 45,000 points.

Stocks found upside support this week from rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue chopping down interest rates at its December 17-18 meeting. Odds of a quarter-point rate cut climbed to 85% on Friday, a jump from 66% over the past week, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Rate-cut odds climbed further after the release of the November U.S. jobs report on Friday. Job additions of 227K exceeded the 211K consensus estimate. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, meeting forecasts.

The “report emphasizes that the labor market remains strong and that policymakers at the Federal Reserve have room to work as we approach a soft landing,” Cory Stahle, economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, said.

The Consumer Discretionary sector emerged as the S&P 500’s (SP500) top-performing group this week. Tesla (TSLA) and Amazon (AMZN) are part of that group, and AI-related progress at the online retailer (AMZN) and a BofA price-target upgrade for the EV maker (TSLA) helped send their shares flying up +12% and +9%, respectively, for the week.

Delving further into the weekly performance of S&P 500 (SP500) sectors, three ended in positive territory, while eight fell. Following Consumer Discretionary at the top of the list was Communication Services. Energy was this week’s laggard. See below a breakdown of the performance of the sectors as well as their accompanying SPDR Select Sector ETFs from November 29 close to December 6 close:

#1: Consumer Discretionary +5.85%, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) +4.72%.

#2: Communication Services +4.11%, and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLC) +2.57%.

#3: Information Technology +3.34%, and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLK) +3.02%.

#4: Consumer Staples -0.78%, and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLP) -1.0%.

#5: Financials -1.78%, and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLF) -1.81%.

#6: Health Care -2.05%, and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLV) -2.12%.

#7: Industrials -2.32%, and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLI) -2.38%.

#8: Real Estate -2.66%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLRE) -2.73%.

#9: Materials -3.04%, and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLB) -3.03%.

#10: Utilities -3.84%, and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLU) -3.91%.

#11: Energy -4.55%, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLE) -4.72%.

For investors looking to track the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500), here are some exchange-traded funds of interest: (VOO), (IVV), (RSP), (SSO), (UPRO), (SH), (SDS), and (SPXU).

For investors looking into the future of what’s happening, take a look at the Seeking Alpha Catalyst Watch to see next week’s breakdown of actionable events that stand out.