The S&P closed at a fresh high on Thursday and etched a new intraday peak during Friday's session. Impressively, it only took eight sessions for the index to rally from a two-month low to a record high, noted Sundial Capital Research founder Jason Goepfert.
The S&P 500 has been shuffling sideways since its post-election jump in November -in fact, it ended 2024 lower than where it was at in the beginning of December.
There are signs the markets are finally awakening from their hibernation. While some of the Magnificent Seven stock struggled on Friday, both Alphabet and Meta Platforms ended the day at all-time highs on optimism around their AI offerings.
And even though all major U.S. benchmarks slipped on Friday, they still ended the week higher for the second consecutive time. The S&P and Nasdaq Composite each rose around 1.7% last week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.2%.
The S&P closed at a fresh high on Thursday and etched a new intraday peak during Friday's session. Impressively, it only took eight sessions for the index to rally from a two-month low to a record high, noted Sundial Capital Research founder Jason Goepfert.
That rapid turnaround suggests that investors are growing convinced that the bull market is trotting back.
Some of that sentiment can be traced to Trump's remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, such as his pledge to "demand that interest rates drop immediately" and comment that he would "ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil."
Lower interest rates, in general, boost economic activity, while cheaper oil reduces costs for businesses.
But some analysts are worried investors might be cheering a mere phantom.
"So far, markets have reacted to every statement made by the President, even those that should not have any impact," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert. "This shows that traders have not yet settled into their pace."
Indeed, perhaps a more realistic sentiment of the markets can be interpreted from gold prices. Spot gold prices rose on Friday to their highest levels in almost three months, signaling that some investors are turning to the precious metal for safety amid uncertainty.
For those chasing the bull market, it might pay to first listen to what the bullion has to say.
- CNBC's Alex Harring, Yun Li and Sarah Min contributed to this report.