S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs for third-straight day as tech shines

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs for third-straight day Wednesday, led by tech, as Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed could take a cautious approach to rate cuts, but stopped short of signaling that a December rate cut was at risk.  

At 4:00 p.m ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 181 points, or 0.40%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.4%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 1%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs for third-straight day, while the Dow closed above 45,000 for the first time ever.  Powell expresses cautious on rate cuts, but doesn't signal December rate cut at risk 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed can take a "little more cautious" approach in cutting rates toward neutral as the economy remains in good shape.

"We can afford to be a little more cautious as we as we try to find neutral rate," Powell said in an interview by Andrew Ross Sorkin at New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday. 

Still, the Fed chief didn't signal that a December rate cut was at risk. Odds of a December rate cut climbed to 79% from 75.5% a day earlier, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. 

Beyond Powell’s address, focus this week is also on nonfarm payrolls data for November, due on Friday.

Data released earlier Wednesday showed US private payrolls growth slowed in November, raising hopes of another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.

Private payrolls rose by 146,000 jobs last month, after advancing by a downwardly revised 184,000 in October, the ADP National Employment Report showed.

Economists had forecast private employment increasing by 166,000 positions after a previously reported gain of 233,000 in October.

"The ADP jobs report was somewhat “goldilocks” in nature with an employment creation pace that was OK but not so hot that the Fed needs to pause the easing process," Vital Knowledge said in a recent note. Salesforce, Marvell soars after Q3 results to pursh tech higher.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM ) stock soared 11% after the cloud-based software company beat third-quarter revenue expectations and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast, helped by robust spending on its enterprise cloud portfolio.

"Salesforce saw strong underlying growth metrics but importantly massive demand out of the gates for Agentforce as the AI Party now comes to CRM and the Software World," Wedbush said in a Wednesday note.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR ) stock rose 2% after the discount retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations, driven by strong same-store sales growth across its major brands.

Marvell Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MRVL ) jumped 23% after reporting Q3 results and guidance that topped Wall Street estimates. 

Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA ) stock soared 5% after the digital identity verification firm reported a third-quarter profit versus a year-ago loss, with 15% of its bookings coming from new products.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL ) stock slumped more than 8% after the footwear retailer cut its annual earnings and sales forecasts as its fiscal third quarter disappointed on softer consumer spending trends. Bitcoin climbs after Trump's pro-crypto SEC pick 

Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD ) was jumped after President-elect Donald Trump announcing that he  nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to head the agency. 

Atkins, who is seen a pro-crypto pick, is set to succeed Gary Gensler. Gensler was a source of frustration in the crypto community as many believed he was stifling innovation in the industry.  

(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Source: Investing.com