How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 12/11/2024

The Associated Press The Associated Press

Wall Street got back to climbing after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% Wednesday to break a two-day losing streak and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a dip of 0.2%. Stocks got a boost as expectations built that the Fed will deliver another cut to interest rates at its meeting next week.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 49.28 points, or 0.8%, to 6,084.19.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.27 points, or 0.2%, to 44,148.56.

The Nasdaq composite rose 347.65 points, or 1.8%, to 20,034.89.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.38 points, or 0.5%, to 2,394.16.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is down 6.08 points, or 0.1%.

The Dow is down 493.96 points, or 1.1%.

The Nasdaq is up 175.12 points, or 0.9%.

The Russell 2000 is down 14.84 points, or 0.6%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 1,314.36 points, or 27.6%.

The Dow is up 6,459.02 points, or 17.1%.

The Nasdaq is up 5,023.54 points, or 33.5%.

The Russell 2000 is up 367.09 points, or 18.1%.