[New York Market Briefing] Rises on Santa rally hopes… Coupang falls about 3% on class-action news

The three major stock indexes on the New York market rose. Major thematic stocks gained, but among artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks there was a selective rally.

On the 22nd (local time), near the close at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 48,362.68, up 227.79 points (0.47%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 43.99 points (0.64%) to 6,878.49, and the Nasdaq Composite closed at 23,428.83, up 121.21 points (0.52%).

There was no intense volatility amid the year-end holiday period.

Trading was relatively subdued, and volume for the S&P 500 was only about half that of the 19th. With neither meaningful positive catalysts nor negative shocks, buying on dips continued on expectations for a Santa rally. A Santa rally typically refers to the market showing strength over the last five trading days of a year and the first two trading days of the following year.

Seo Sang-young, Executive Director at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Overnight U.S. markets showed strength in most stocks, including financials, as expectations for a year-end rally were highlighted. However, while semiconductors rose sharply last Friday on positive OpenAI-related news, today the market saw stock concentration and differentiation, which limited the broadening of gains."

NVIDIA rose 1.44% on news that it is preparing to target shipments of its AI chip 'H200' to China starting in mid-February next year. Oracle also rose 3.34% after Wells Fargo set a price target about 46% higher than the previous close.

As AI and semiconductor thematic stocks that led the market this year had undergone adjustments for a while, bargain buying concentrated toward year-end. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.1% from the previous close.

However, as the S&P 500 is expected to record a 20% gain for a third consecutive year, warnings continue that some volatility should be anticipated next year.

By sector, all sectors except consumer staples were higher. Industrials, financials, energy and materials rose more than 1%.

Paramount and Skydance, which are competing with Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, jumped 4.29%. This followed Oracle founder Larry Ellison providing Paramount with a $40.4 billion personal guarantee to acquire Warner Bros.

South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang fell 3.36% on news it was hit with a class-action lawsuit in the United States. Coupang plunged from its September peak of $34.08 to $23.20.

Min-gyeong Shin, Hankyung.com reporter radio@hankyung.com