Wall Street Today | S&P 500 Closes Just Shy of Record, Up 24% in 2023

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ closed out the year at 4,769.83, just shy of the record close of 4,796.56 reached in early 2022, before the US Federal Reserve embarked on the fastest pace of interest rate increases in decades. This year's gains were also buoyed by bets that policymakers would start cutting borrowing costs in early 2024.

The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ settled little changed Friday after climbing to an all-time high of 37,778.85. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ slipped 0.6% to 15,011.35, paring this year's surge to 43.4%, its biggest annual rally since 2020.

$Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ shares slipped, tracking losses on Nasdaq, after Reuters reported that Google agreed to settle a $5 billion lawsuit alleging that the company secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were browsing the internet through Chrome privately.

$Grifols (GRFS.US)$ shares rose 11% after the company said it is selling about 20% of its equity stake in Shanghai RAAS, or SRAAS, to household appliances maker Haier Group for 12.5 billion yuan in cash. Grifols said proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay down the company's debt. The Spanish pharmaceutical group said the deal will lead to the combination of its plasma and diagnostics sector with Haier's healthcare services in China.

$XPeng (XPEV.US)$ shares rose in US trading after Chinese electric vehicle maker said it expanded its XNGP Advanced Driver Assistance System in 27 more cities in China, taking the total to 52 cities in the Asian country. By early 2024, XNGP will be available in 200 cities across the country, as the company pushes for mass adoption of autonomous driving.

$Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR.US)$, $Iris Energy (IREN.US)$, $Hut 8 (HUT.US)$ and other crypto-mining stocks tumbled as much as 30%+ Friday as bitcoin prices fell and stocks in the sector gave back much of big gains that they had scored earlier this week.