The S&P 500 surrendered most of its early gains overnight but still closed up +0.4%, plus futures have now rallied post NVDA numbers. The Fed minutes weighed on the broader market, but a bounce by the “AI Trade” ultimately kept the bears in check: Nvidia +2%, Oracle +1.7%, and Alphabet +3.5%. There are no AI concerns obvious in Alphabet which traded above $US300 for the first time in its history – closing at a new all-time high.
- We are still giving the bull market the benefit of the doubt, but a clean, broad-based Christmas rally will need the concerns around valuations to fade.
MM is neutral on US stocks in the short term
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As we said yesterday outside of lithium stocks, the only place to “hide” in recent weeks has been stocks exhibiting deep-seated value, supported by some obvious defensive names. Four stocks across MM’s portfolios fitting this profile all closed higher in a weak market on Wednesday: APA Group (APA), GQG Partners (GQG), AGL Energy (AGL), and Amcor (AMC), with one of these being the ASX200’s best-performing stock.
