Nasdaq, focused on U.S. tech stocks, surpassed the 20,000 mark for the first time on the 11th (local time) buoyed by expectations of a rate cut. Tesla’s stock also hit an all-time high, making CEO Elon Musk the first person with a net worth exceeding $400 billion. On this day, the U.S. Labor Department announced that the November Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.7% compared to the same month last year. Although the upward trend continued from October, the market views that inflation has not deteriorated severely, predicting that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lower the benchmark interest rate by an additional 0.25 percentage points at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 18th.
According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch, the futures market forecasts a more than 95% probability that the Fed will cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points at the December FOMC meeting.
The New York stock markets rose across the board. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index closed at 20,034.89, up 347.65 points (1.77%) from the previous session. This is the first time the Nasdaq index has surpassed 20,000 since its inception in 1971, with a year-to-date increase of 33%.
Tesla surged by 5.93% to close at $424.77, marking a new record high for the first time in three years. The previous all-time high closing price was $409.97 on November 4, 2021. Unlike other tech stocks, Tesla, which struggled somewhat in the first half of the year amid slowing demand for electric vehicles, rebounded in the second half with expectations for robotaxis, and has been on a steady rise since Trump’s election.
Since the U.S. presidential election on the 5th of last month, Tesla’s stock has risen by about 70%. With significant increases in Tesla and other stock holdings, Musk’s net worth has surpassed $400 billion. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s net worth is estimated at $439.2 billion.
On the same day, the S&P 500 index, focused on large-cap stocks, also closed up 49.28 points (0.82%) at 6,084.19 in the New York stock market.