US stocks wobbled on Friday as investors surveyed President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to build his team and bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) bid to reach a key milestone.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) hugged the flatline while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was little changed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) retreated slightly, after the major gauges closed Thursday in the green.
Markets are regrouping after Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings fell short of definitively settling the question of whether AI would keep boosting stocks. Some of the “Magnificent Seven” tech megacap stocks were under pressure in early trading, also dogged by the potential breakup of Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL).
But the major gauges are still on track to close the week with wins of over 1%, despite getting it off to a lackluster start as the post-election rally stalled.
Wall Street is still waiting to learn who Trump will tap for his Treasury Secretary — an announcement that could sway markets, given its importance to the economy. The President-elect tapped former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to be the US attorney general after his prior pick, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration on Thursday.
Meanwhile, surging bitcoin continued to near the landmark $100,000 level, buoyed by growing confidence that the Trump administration will support pro-crypto policies. The leading token broke above $99,500 early on Friday before retreating amid hopes for looser regulatory oversight after SEC Chair Gary Gensler said he will step down soon. Smaller cryptocurrencies also got a boost.
On the data front, a monthly update on consumer sentiment is due later. The first S&P Global readings from US factory and services activity surveys in November are also on the docket.
LIVE 2 updates