S&P 500 hits record high as Santa rally begins
The fabled Santa rally has reached the New York stock exchange!
The S&P 500 index of US company shares has hit a record high today, on a shortened Christmas Eve trading session. It touched a new intraday record high of 6,921.42 points, surpassing its previous peak in October.
The rally comes as investors continued to bet on more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year.
There’s also lingering relief that yesterday’s GDP report showed the US economy grew rather faster than expected in the July-September quarter.
Nike (+4.6%) are the top riser on the S&P 500, reversing some losses last week after it reported weak sales in China and an impact from Donald Trump’s tariffs.
It’s followed by chipmaker Micron which cheered Wall Street last week with strong financial results.
Key events
Today’s rally comes as many investors, analysts and economists have clocked off for Christmas.
But before they swapped their financial terminals for Die Hard, Love Actually and The Muppet Christmas Carol, many predicted that stock markets would keep rising in 2026.
UBS predict that “supportive economic conditions should underpin global equities, which are expected to rise by around 15% by the end of 2026,” with gains likely in the US, China, Japan, and Europe.
Double-digit gains are expected on Wall Street. Under UBS’s base case scenario, the US S&P 500 index ends 2026 at 7,700 points, which would be a gain of around 11%.
Deutsche Bank, who say 2026 promises to be anything but dull, have a year-end S&P 500 target of 8,000 points. Oppenheimer Asset Management are even more bullish; they set a year-end 2026 target of 8100 points for the S&P 500 index.
The storied Dow Jones industrial average is approaching its own record high today.
The DJIA is up 320 points, or 0.66%, at 48,763 points, near the intraday record high reached earlier this month.
Nike, again, is the top riser, with pharmaceuticals firm Merck (+1.5%) and investment bank JP Morgan (1%) close behind.
Today’s drop in US initial jobless claims (see earlier post) may have reassured traders that the US economy is in decent health.
Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, says:
“Despite ongoing seasonal volatility, initial jobless claims remain in ranges consistent with relatively steady labor market conditions and don’t change our outlook for the labor market or Fed policy.”
S&P 500 hits record high as Santa rally begins
The fabled Santa rally has reached the New York stock exchange!
The S&P 500 index of US company shares has hit a record high today, on a shortened Christmas Eve trading session. It touched a new intraday record high of 6,921.42 points, surpassing its previous peak in October.
The rally comes as investors continued to bet on more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year.
There’s also lingering relief that yesterday’s GDP report showed the US economy grew rather faster than expected in the July-September quarter.
Nike (+4.6%) are the top riser on the S&P 500, reversing some losses last week after it reported weak sales in China and an impact from Donald Trump’s tariffs.
It’s followed by chipmaker Micron which cheered Wall Street last week with strong financial results.
Closing post
Time to wrap up, for festive fun!
We’ll be back on Monday 29th December – perhaps Santa might have reached the stock markets by then too.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas. GW
WH Smith to claw back £1.5m bonuses from execs
Sarah Butler
WH Smith will take back just over £1.5m in cash and shares bonuses paid out to its former chief executive and finance director and has slashed future bonus payments after an accounting scandal at its north American division.
The company said it had re-calculated awards for its 2024 and 2023 annual bonus payments and a 2021 long term bonus scheme to Carl Cowling, its chief executive who left last month in the light of the scandal, and Robert Moorhead, the former finance director who left in 2024.
This total overpayment to Carl Cowling was £516,000 in cash and 60,182 deferred bonus and long term bonus shares worth £374,933 at today’s share price. The overpayment to Robert Moorhead was £372,000 in cash and 43,739 in shares worth £272,493, the company said, in an annual report released shortly after stock market trading closed for Christmas.
The books, stationery, tech and toys retailer has also ditched the payment of an annual and long-term bonus to Carl Cowling, so that his annual pay for the year to August 2025 slumped to £724,000 from £2.7m a year before.
However, the report said Cowling would remain an employee until 28 February and then would receive ‘monthly salary payments’ until the end of his 12-month notice period although these might be ‘subject to mitigation.”
That would mean Cowling will receive up to his annual pay of £711,000, before benefits and pension, in monthly payments over the coming year and he is also holding on to further long term bonus shares which will vest in future years depending on WH Smith’s performance.
In addition the company said Robert Moorhead was no longer counted as a ‘good leaver’ and so his deferred bonus share payments, worth about £1.2m were now “expected to be cancelled in full”.
Calm trading on Wall Street
Over in New York, Wall Street trading has begun rather gently.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, of 30 large US companies, has gained 20 points or 0.04% in early trading to 48,462 points.
The broader S&P 500 index is very marginally higher….
Back in the UK, the shops have reportedly been a little busier than last Christmas Eve.
MRI Software data shows that footfall across retailers up to 1pm today was 2.4% higher than a year ago.
That includes a 6.6% rise at retail parks, and a 1.1% increase on the high streets.
The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week, new data shows.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 for the week ending on 20 December, the Labor Department says.
That’s below the 224,000 expected by economists, and suggests the US employment market remains solid, as the initial claims total is seen as a proxy for company layoffs.
SolGold agrees to £867m takeover by top investor Jiangxi Copper
Shortly after the London stock market closed, a takeover deal for gold and copper miner SolGold was announced.
SolGold has agreed to be taken over by its top shareholder, Jiangxi Copper, in a deal valuing it at £867m
The London-listed miner said earlier this month it was inclined to recommend the offer, which was Jiangxi’s third proposal to acquire the company amid a global race for copper assets.
SolGold says the takeover should help it develop its Cascabel project – a South American copper and gold mine.
Dan Vujcic, CEO of SolGold, says:
“SolGold believes we have made substantial progress in the last year in developing the Cascabel Project and achieving key milestones, which has been reflected in SolGold’s strong share price performance.
Following extensive shareholder consultation following the receipt of the proposals from JCC, the Board believes all shareholders should have the opportunity to consider the Acquisition.
Having carefully considered the terms of the Acquisition, the SolGold Board believes it is in the best interests of shareholders and the company, and the SolGold Board have unanimously recommended the transaction to shareholders.”
