Factory data
The December ISM manufacturing index reached 49.3 versus a 48.2 estimate, showing improvement while remaining below the 50 expansion threshold.
Jan 3, 2025 · QQQ/SPY Market Review · 24 headlines
AI spending joins an improving ISM print while QQQ finishes 0.47 percentage points ahead of SPY
QQQ rose 1.73% and SPY gained 1.27%, leaving the technology-heavy fund ahead by 0.47 percentage points. The ISM manufacturing index improved to 49.3 and beat the 48.2 estimate, although it remained below 50. News also included Biden blocking the $14.9 billion U.S. Steel takeover and fresh AI investment and partnership plans from Microsoft and Alibaba.
Published
- QQQ
- +1.73%
- SPY
- +1.27%
- QQQ − SPY
- +0.47%
What shaped the session
Policy and regulatory risk
Biden blocked the $14.9 billion U.S. Steel transaction on national-security grounds, while a federal health warning raised a separate risk for alcohol producers.
China and megacaps
Apple faced weaker foreign-phone sales in China as domestic subsidies supported rivals, while Alibaba Cloud added a new AI-model partnership.
AI infrastructure spending
Microsoft outlined $80 billion of AI data-center spending with half planned for the United States, extending the investment cycle around computing capacity.
Key news
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