When Wall Street found its nerve again
When Wall Street found its nerve againWhen Wall Street found its nerve againIt began like any other holiday-shortened week on Wall Street: thin calendars, busy airports, and traders half‑joking that the market had already gone on vacation. But by Monday’s close, the mood had flipped. Tech stocks were roaring back, bond yields were easing, and suddenly the conversation was no longer about how bad November had been – but whether a December rate cut might light the fuse for one more leg of this bull run.
The S&P 500 climbed roughly 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite surged about 2.7%, its best day in months, as investors piled back into mega‑cap technology and AI names. Even the more old‑school Dow Jones Industrial Average , often left behind in tech surges, managed a respectable gain of around 0.4%. Under the surface, one narrative tied it all together: belief that the Federal Reserve might finally be ready to take its foot off the brake.
Rate cuts, not santa, are driving this rally
The real catalyst sat 200 miles south in Washington, not on a trading floor in New York. Recent comments from New York Fed President John Williams signalled that interest rates could fall “in the near term”, reinforcing the idea that policy is now only modestly restrictive. That was enough for futures markets to ramp up the odds of a December cut to roughly three‑quarters, from less than half just a week earlier.
For analysts, this shift in probabilities is not just a footnote. As one Morningstar strategist, Sarah Hansen, put it, the Fed appears to see “room for a further adjustment in the near term” as inflation risks ease and the labour market cools. That combination, less inflation fear, more concern about jobs, usually spells friendlier policy for equities, especially growth and tech. Oppenheimer’s strategy team went further, suggesting that lower rates in 2026 could also revive “bond‑proxy” sectors such as utilities, which tend to benefit as yields drift down.
Tech’s comeback and the fragile optimism behind it
If the Fed set the stage, technology stocks stole the show. Alphabet , already under the spotlight for its latest Gemini AI model, jumped more than 6%, becoming one of the strongest single forces lifting the S&P 500. Broadcom did even better, leaping over 11% and topping the S&P 500 leaderboard, while Nvidia bounced around 2% after a bruising month despite reassuring investors on AI demand.
These moves mattered not just for the day’s scoreboard, but for sentiment. One Reuters recap noted that “mega‑cap stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher” as traders rotated back into the names that carried the market for most of the year. Yet even the bulls admit this is a uneasy truce, not unshakeable faith. Lilian Chovin, head of asset allocation at Coutts, warned that “the dominant theme for now remains uncertainty” and that markets were likely to stay choppy until the Fed’s December decision.
Still, the longer‑term optimists have not gone quiet. Deutsche Bank’s strategists now project the S&P 500 could climb to 8,000 by the end of 2026, citing resilient earnings and AI‑driven productivity gains – one of the most upbeat calls among major global houses. For investors watching from India or anywhere else, Monday’s session felt like a reminder of how quickly fear can morph back into FOMO when rate‑cut whispers meet an AI‑fuelled tech rebound.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or brokerage companies, and not of Winvesta. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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When Wall Street found its nerve againWhen Wall Street found its nerve againIt began like any other holiday-shortened week on Wall Street: thin calendars, busy airports, and traders half‑joking that the market had already gone on vacation. But by Monday’s close, the mood had flipped. Tech stocks were roaring back, bond yields were easing, and suddenly the conversation was no longer about how bad November had been – but whether a December rate cut might light the fuse for one more leg of this bull run.
The S&P 500 climbed roughly 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite surged about 2.7%, its best day in months, as investors piled back into mega‑cap technology and AI names. Even the more old‑school Dow Jones Industrial Average , often left behind in tech surges, managed a respectable gain of around 0.4%. Under the surface, one narrative tied it all together: belief that the Federal Reserve might finally be ready to take its foot off the brake.
Rate cuts, not santa, are driving this rally
The real catalyst sat 200 miles south in Washington, not on a trading floor in New York. Recent comments from New York Fed President John Williams signalled that interest rates could fall “in the near term”, reinforcing the idea that policy is now only modestly restrictive. That was enough for futures markets to ramp up the odds of a December cut to roughly three‑quarters, from less than half just a week earlier.
For analysts, this shift in probabilities is not just a footnote. As one Morningstar strategist, Sarah Hansen, put it, the Fed appears to see “room for a further adjustment in the near term” as inflation risks ease and the labour market cools. That combination, less inflation fear, more concern about jobs, usually spells friendlier policy for equities, especially growth and tech. Oppenheimer’s strategy team went further, suggesting that lower rates in 2026 could also revive “bond‑proxy” sectors such as utilities, which tend to benefit as yields drift down.
Tech’s comeback and the fragile optimism behind it
If the Fed set the stage, technology stocks stole the show. Alphabet , already under the spotlight for its latest Gemini AI model, jumped more than 6%, becoming one of the strongest single forces lifting the S&P 500. Broadcom did even better, leaping over 11% and topping the S&P 500 leaderboard, while Nvidia bounced around 2% after a bruising month despite reassuring investors on AI demand.
These moves mattered not just for the day’s scoreboard, but for sentiment. One Reuters recap noted that “mega‑cap stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher” as traders rotated back into the names that carried the market for most of the year. Yet even the bulls admit this is a uneasy truce, not unshakeable faith. Lilian Chovin, head of asset allocation at Coutts, warned that “the dominant theme for now remains uncertainty” and that markets were likely to stay choppy until the Fed’s December decision.
Still, the longer‑term optimists have not gone quiet. Deutsche Bank’s strategists now project the S&P 500 could climb to 8,000 by the end of 2026, citing resilient earnings and AI‑driven productivity gains – one of the most upbeat calls among major global houses. For investors watching from India or anywhere else, Monday’s session felt like a reminder of how quickly fear can morph back into FOMO when rate‑cut whispers meet an AI‑fuelled tech rebound.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or brokerage companies, and not of Winvesta. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
Ready to earn on every trade?
Invest in 11,000+ US stocks & ETFs