US close: Dow, S&P 500 notch new record highs

11th Dec 2025 22:53

(Sharecast News) - US stocks finished in mixed fashion on Thursday, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a new all-time high on the back of strong gains from high-priced stocks like Goldman Sachs, American Express and Visa.

The price-weighted Dow, which is susceptible to volatile swings when stocks like Goldman (which accounts for 11.5% of the index) make big moves, finished 1.3% higher at 48,704.01 - topping an earlier peak of 48,254.82 reached on 12 November.

The S&P 500 also hit a new high, but rose just 0.2% on the day to 6,901 - surpassing a late-October record of 6,890.89 - with big falls from Oracle limiting upside.

Oracle's 11% slump, after the software giant disappointed with second-quarter earnings and plans to ramp up investments, weighed heavily on the tech sector, sending the Nasdaq down 0.3%.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. said that the negative market reaction to Oracle's results "stoked bubble fears again, leading to a wobbly market just days before Christmas". He added: "Investors want to know when all this AI money is going to generate a positive financial return, and it's unclear if that's happening sooner or later."

Economy in focus

Markets put in decent gains on Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 in favour of a rate cut, with the Federal Funds Rate being trimmed by 25 basis points to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% - its lowest since 2022.

On the macro front on Thursday, US initial jobless claims rose by 44,000 to 236,000 last week, according to the Department of Labor, significantly above market expectations of 220,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 192,000. Continuing claims, on the other hand, fell by 99,000 to 1.83m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 2,000 to 216,750.

"Hot on the heels of a US interest rate cut were jobless claims figures that came in higher than expected. The Fed is watching the labour market closely for signs of weakness and any notable deterioration would strengthen the argument for more interest rate cuts down the line," Coatsworth said.

Elsewhere, the US trade deficit narrowed sharply in September, according to the Commerce Department, hitting its smallest level since mid‑2020, as exports surged. The goods and services gap fell almost 11% month‑on‑month to $52.8bn, well below the $63.1bn deficit expected by analysts. Exports climbed 3% to the second‑highest level on record, driven by stronger shipments of non‑monetary gold and pharmaceutical products, while imports rose just 0.6% over the month.

Finally, wholesale inventories rose by 0.5% to $911.5bn in September, according to the Census Bureau, following a revised 0.1% decrease in August and ahead of market expectations for a more modest 0.1% uptick.

Dow financials rise, Oracle drops

Financial stocks on the Dow were performing well, with heavyweights Goldman Sachs, American Express, Visa, and JPMorgan Chase - who together account for nearly a quarter of the price-weighted index - making big gains.

Visa was being helped by a BofA Securities upgrade from 'neutral' to 'buy', with the bank citing "very attractive return potential".

Disney finished higher after a $1bn equity investment in OpenAI which will see the latter's Sora platform use Disney characters to generate user-prompted social videos. The three-year licensing agreement is the first major content licensing agreement with Sora.

Oracle dropped 11% after second-quarter revenue growth missed forecasts, while the company raised guidance for capital expenditure this year. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Oracle's softer results reminded investors that not every tech story is bulletproof."

Chip stocks were firmly out of favour as AI bubble fears resurfaced following Oracle's results, with Arm Holdings, Broadcom and Nvidia all trading in the red.

Eli Lilly was making headlines after the first successful phase three results for retatrutide, its experimental once-weekly 'triple agonist' drug. Shares rose after results showed unprecedented weight loss alongside major improvements in knee osteoarthritis pain.

Dow Jones - Risers

Visa Inc. (V) $345.97 6.11%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.51 2.96%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $336.43 2.55%

American Express Co. (AXP) $384.90 2.48%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $914.04 2.45%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.14 2.42%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $316.86 2.34%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $358.11 1.80%

3M Co. (MMM) $169.41 1.77%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $210.03 1.68%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.51 -3.11%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.03 -1.57%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $262.08 -0.70%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $310.01 -0.62%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $150.62 -0.46%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $278.03 -0.27%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $309.65 -0.26%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $24.51 -0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $280.72 7.42%

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $20.51 6.81%

Visa Inc. (V) $345.97 6.11%

Mosaic Company (MOS) $25.30 6.06%

Carnival Corp. (CCL) $27.91 5.94%

Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) $361.14 5.62%

Dollar General Corp (DG) $131.61 5.39%

Newmont Corporation (NEM) $99.36 5.32%

Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $122.83 4.89%

Centene Corp. (CNC) $40.51 4.63%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $198.97 -10.83%

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) $63.05 -3.27%

Welltower Inc (WELL) $184.62 -3.19%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.51 -3.11%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $24.42 -2.85%

Teleflex Inc. (TFX) $127.00 -2.49%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $312.43 -2.43%

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $171.53 -2.32%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $313.70 -2.27%

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $37.43 -2.27%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $129.97 4.61%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $307.85 2.99%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $747.35 2.91%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $187.20 2.89%

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,019.81 2.49%

Hasbro Inc (HAS) $83.95 2.18%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $84.40 2.15%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $264.69 2.06%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $676.01 2.05%

Fastenal Co. (FAST) $41.76 2.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.51 -3.11%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $312.43 -2.43%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $313.70 -2.27%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $270.11 -1.83%

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $593.69 -1.16%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $70.12 -1.00%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $230.28 -0.65%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $212.06 -0.58%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $163.87 -0.43%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.60 -0.43%