By Emily Dattilo

Investors weathered a lot in 2024, from a topsy-turvy presidential election to inflation and geopolitical conflict. All the same, U.S. stock indexes managed to deliver big gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 13%, the S&P 500 23%, and the Nasdaq Composite 29%.

Above all else, it was the year of artificial intelligence, which fueled tech stocks, particularly the megacaps of the Magnificent Seven: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. Those stocks made up about 57% of the S&P 500's market-cap gain this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data, and as a group the stocks grew 65%. But as good as that was, it was a comedown from 2023, when the Mag 7 soared 111%, making up 65% of the S&P's market-cap gain.

The good news: That helped other stocks, some riding the AI boom, shine, with names such as Palantir Technologies, Vistra, and Nvidia coming out on top. Others, including some venerable names, ended up in the cellar: Boeing, Intel, Nike, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The new year, of course, is anyone's guess. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives sees a less restrictive regulatory environment from the Trump administration and a continuation of the AI frenzy. But 22V Research's Dennis DeBusschere worries that highly valued tech stocks like those in the Mag 7 could flag if inflation persists and job growth stalls. Time inevitably will tell.

Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@barrons.com

Last Week

Markets

The Santa Claus rally fizzled as the year ended; stocks continued to slide on Thursday, then rebounded on Friday. On the week, the Dow industrials fell 0.6%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both slipped 0.5%. The S&P 500 finished the year up 24%, with 57 record closes, and U.S. stocks saw their best two-year performance since 1997 and '98.

Companies

An appeals court overturned a Federal Communications Commission rule mandating net neutrality, reopening the fight over how much leeway broadband providers have in providing internet service. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. gave BlackRock a Jan. 10 deadline to begin reporting its stakes of 10% or more in FDIC-supervised banks; Vanguard recently agreed to the requirement. A Boeing 737-800, flown by a South Korean airline, crashed while landing, killing 179. Ukraine failed to renew its contract to transport Russian natural gas to Europe. Tesla's annual global vehicle deliveries fell for the first time in over a decade. Maersk warned of a possible U.S. dockworkers' strike.

Deals

President Biden blocked Nippon Steel's $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel...Alibaba Group agreed to sell its controlling stake in Sun Art Retail Group for $1.7 billion.

Milestones

Jimmy Carter, 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died at 100.

Charles Dolan, founder of HBO and a pioneer of cable TV with Cablevision, died at 98.

Next Week

Tuesday 1/7

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Consensus estimate is for 7.8 million job openings on the last business day of November, which is roughly even with the October figure.

Wednesday 1/8

The Federal Open Market Committee releases the minutes from its mid-December monetary-policy meeting. The FOMC cut the federal-funds rate at that meeting by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25%-4.5%, although there was one dissenting vote from Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack.

Thursday 1/9

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are closed in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away late last year. President Joe Biden declared Jan. 9 a National Day of Mourning for Carter.

Friday 1/10

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for December. Economists forecast a 153,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls, following a 227,000 gain in November. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.2%.

The Numbers

$46 B

Lender write-offs on consumer credit-card debt through Sept. 30, the highest since 2010.

$11 T

Total assets in exchange-traded funds at the end of November, up 30% year to date, and a record.

2%

Rise in U.S. productivity in the 3Q compared with a year earlier, the fifth straight quarter at 2% or more.

$10 B

A Wall Street Journal estimate of how much the SEC has written off in penalties over the past 10 years.

Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com

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January 03, 2025 18:56 ET (23:56 GMT)

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