Stock Market Today: Dow closes at record record high as post-Fed rally continues

Investing.com -- The Dow closed at record highs Thursday for the second-straight day as the post-Fed rally continued to push stocks higher even as some express concern that the recent run higher has been too much, too fast.

By 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 158 points, or 0.4%, to close at a record of 37,248.35. The S&P 500 index rose 0.4%, higher and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.2%.

Post-Fed rally continues despite run into overbought territory

The rally in the three key indexes including the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq breached technically "overbought" levels, or a level above 70 on the relative strength index, or RSI, a technical tool that indicates whether a security is overbought or oversold.

The earlier intraday surge in stocks came a day after the Federal Reserve forecast three rate hikes for next, with Fed chairman Jerome Powell announcing that it discussion of when to cut rates was now on the table.

Technicals aside, the rally has also cast a light on whether valuations have run up too far, too fast.

"It seems like stocks are just a little bit overheated at this point in time," Brian Mulberry at Zacks Investment Management said in an interview with Investing.com's Yasin Ebrahim.

"Next year, we are expecting earnings on the S&P 500 to grow to $240 a share, but we're already enjoying the valuation of that earnings growth today," Mulberry added. "It's hard to say even if we get the 10% earnings growth that we're expecting from the S&P 500, that we're going to have a valuation 10% higher from where we are now ... that doesn't make sense at this point in time."

Jobless claims come in light, but retail sales spring upside surprise

Initial jobless claims dropped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 202,000 for the week ended Dec. 9, but while that was short of economists estimates, some continue to see a material weakening ahead.

Small businesses, in particular, are facing pressure from higher interest that have hiked up monthly business, Jefferies said.

"The increase to-date has likely been a force behind the overall slowdown in hiring. It has not translated to layoffs yet, but it will eventually," it added.

Still, the consumer continued to show strength, with U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rising 0.3% on the month in November as the holiday shopping season got off to a brisk start.

Adobe stutters on earnings stage as guidance fails to impress; Apple notches fresh closing high

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) stock fell 7% after the computer software company issued conservative guidance for 2024’s earnings and revenue.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed at a fresh record high, but it wasn't all smooth sailing as the iPhone maker retreated from its all time intraday high of $199.62 amid profit taking on big tech, with Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) ending the day in the red.

Semiconductor stocks jumped to an all-time high, powered by a rise Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) to fresh 52-week highs after the chipmaker unveiled new AI chips to take the fight to leaders NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD).

Moderna , Rivian in rally mode

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) stock rose over 9% after an experimental messenger RNA cancer vaccine it co-developed with Merck received positive experimental results.

Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) jumped more than 13% after the electric vehicle maker clinched a deal to supply AT&T with commercial van and R1 vehicles as part of pilot program.

Occidental Petroleum gets boost from Buffett to lead energy stocks higher

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) jumped nearly 3% underpinning the broader energy sector after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) acquired nearly 10.5 million shares of the oil giant for about $588.7 million.

As well as a boost from Occidental Petroleum, a jump in oil prices also supported the broader energy sector as growing hopes of sanguine U.S. economy backdrop amid expectations for an accommodative Fed next year.

(Peter Nurse contributed to this report.)

Upgrade your decision-making with InvestingPro+! Using discount code “INVESTPRO” receive an additional 10% off the InvestingPro+ yearly subscription. Click here and don't forget the discount code.