US stocks close at record, nudged higher as Tim Cook buys Nike shares

Stocks closed out their longest winning streak since November on Wednesday, in thin holiday trading as investors parsed labor market data for additional clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

The S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher in a shortened holiday trading session Wednesday, extending a winning streak to a fifth day. Nike Inc. rose and was the top-performer in the market after Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook purchased $2.95 million in shares. Cook, who is Nike’s lead independent director, nearly doubled the number of shares he owns in the company.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index rose 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6%. US cash markets closed at 1 pm on December 24 and are closed Christmas Day.

“Investors are pricing in a soft economic landing with conviction as we approach the year-end,” said Tom Essaye, founder of the Sevens Report. He said that “equities have room to run amid optimism surrounding the potential for strong earnings growth in the quarters to come.”

Initial jobless claims fell to 214,000 for the week ended December 20, which was below expectations. Continuing jobless claims rose to 1.9%. Separately, mortgage applications dropped for the second consecutive week.

The market is currently pricing in just two Fed interest-rate cuts next year. US President Donald Trump has pushed for aggressive cuts and said this week he would soon pick a new Fed chair who agrees interest rates should be lower.

“I think they’re going to be on hold for a lot of next year, at least until we get the next chair,” Stephanie Roth, chief economist at Wolfe Research, said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

Among notable individual movers, Intel Corp. shares fell after Reuters reported Nvidia Corp. had halted a test to use Intel’s production process to make advanced chips.