The Nasdaq Composite rose to a record, aided by a rally in tech, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

The tech-heavy index gained 1.24% to 20,173.89, while the S&P 500 added 0.38%, closing at 6,074.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, losing 110.58 points, or 0.25%, to end at 43,717.48. The 30-stock Dow fell for an eighth day, marking its longest run of losses since 2018.

Shares of Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, electric car maker Tesla and AI-chipmaker Broadcom all rallied to fresh all-time highs. Broadcom, which topped a $1 trillion market value for the first time last week, led the Nasdaq higher with a gain of 11%. The tech and consumer discretionary sectors of the S&P 500 also closed at records.

Bucking the upward trend was artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia, the market favorite that led stocks higher the past two years. The stock pulled back 1.7% and fell into a correction, off more than 10% from its recent all-time high in November.

The move higher in stocks came as the Fed was set to begin a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to cut its benchmark overnight lending rate another quarter point at the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday. The key for investors will be forward guidance on future policy moves after the Fed began easing policy in September for the first time in four years.

"While it's easy to make a big deal about every single FOMC decision and press conference, this final one of 2024 may be the most intriguing," said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.

"Since the first cut in September, unemployment numbers have stabilized," he added. "However, the inflation numbers have ticked the other way ever so slightly. In fact, they have gone up each month since cuts began. Is this just 'sticky' or the start of a new trend?"

The stock market is coming off a sluggish week, when the Dow fell 1.8%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.6% last week, and had retreated in four of the past five sessions before Monday. As if to foreshadow Monday's all-time high, the Nasdaq outperformed last week, grinding out a gain of 0.3%.

S&P 500, Nasdaq close higher

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed higher on Monday, with the technology-heavy index notching a fresh all-time high and closing record.

The broad market index gained 0.38% to close at 6,074.08. The Nasdaq advanced 1.24% to 20,173.89, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down about 110 points, or 0.25%, to finish the session at 43,717.48.

— Brian Evans

Quantum ETF pops 7%, heads for best day since 2022

The Defiance Quantum ETF popped more than 7% on Monday and headed for its best day since November 2022.

Shares of the fund have rallied nearly 19% this month after Alphabet earlier this month announced a "breakthrough" in quantum computing.

D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti Computing popped 43% and 32%, respectively, while IonQ gained 23%. Rigetti shares have skyrocketed 860% this year.

— Samantha Subin

Communication services, consumer discretionary lead S&P 500 higher on Monday

Communication services and consumer discretionary stocks led the S&P 500's sector gains in afternoon trading, with those two sectors up 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively.

Additionally, the information technology sector was the third-highest performer, seeing a 0.9% rise.

By contrast, the energy sector was the biggest laggard by far on Monday, with a decline of 2%. Meanwhile, health care pulled back 0.7%, and materials pulled back 0.6%.

— Sean Conlon

Federal Reserve tightening interest rates next year wouldn't be 'sensible,' says Paul McCulley

While the Federal Reserve may certainly temper investors' interest rate cut expectations lower next year, it's unlikely the U.S. central bank will actually begin to hike rates again, according to Paul McCulley.

"The whole notion that somehow the Fed is going to need to tighten in 2025 simply is not sensible to me, for the simple reason if the Fed is more hawkish in their rhetoric, then the market will do the tightening for the Fed because we're starting from an inverted yield curve," the adjunct professor at Georgetown and former chief economist at PIMCO said on CNBC's "The Exchange" on Monday afternoon.

Instead, it's more likely that the Federal Reserve will adjust expectations from four cuts to a more realistic two cuts, McCulley added.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Wall Street is 'pre-trading' the central bank's decision this week, says BTIG

Similar to what the firm observed heading into the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting, BTIG says the market is pre-emptively preparing for another rate cut on Wednesday.

"This time around, the chatter for this month's meeting is a 'hawkish cut,'" chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky wrote on Monday. "It seems to us the market has been once again 'pre-trading' this with a stronger dollar, weaker bonds, and weak small-cap/value over the last couple weeks."

— Brian Evans

'1999 analogies' are rising in the current market, says Raymond James

Current market conditions are reminiscent of 1999, according to Raymond James. The firm believes signs such as high price-to-earnings ratios, global investors piling into U.S. equities, a tight labor market in the U.S. and the market chasing just a handful of stocks are creating a similar backdrop to the dot-com bubble that started in late 1999.

"1999 analogies are piling up," analyst Travis McCourt wrote in a Sunday note.

"History never repeats, but it certainly rhymes. Arguably equities are not as speculative as they were in early 2000, but it certainly feels eerily similar to 1998 or early 1999," McCourt continued.

— Hakyung Kim

Dollar rises against yen, euro

The dollar strengthened against the yen and the euro ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week.

The greenback last gained 0.3% against the yen at 154.11. Earlier on Monday, the dollar reached as high as 154.480 yen for the first time since Nov. 26.

Against the euro, the dollar climbed 0.2%. The euro last traded at $1.05.

— Hakyung Kim

Nvidia, Broadcom, MicroStrategy among stocks making biggest midday moves

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Nvidia — Shares slipped roughly 2%, putting the artificial intelligence chipmaker officially in correction territory after tumultuous trading over the past month.
• MicroStrategy — The bitcoin proxy stock rose more than 6% after Nasdaq announced MicroStrategy will be added to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index. This means the stock will be included in the popular Invesco QQQ Trust ETF. The index inclusion takes effect on Dec. 23.
• Crypto stocks — Shares of crypto-linked stocks rallied, with Coinbase and Robinhood gaining 4.7% and 7%, respectively. Mara Holdings shares soared more than 11% after MicroStrategy Chair Michael Saylor said in a Dec. 14 post on social media site X that he expects the crypto miner to be next in joining the Nasdaq 100.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Grindr shares rise after Goldman initiates buy rating

Shares of Grindr rose more than 7% in midday trading and hit a new 52-week high during the session on the heels of Goldman Sachs initiating coverage with a buy rating.

The firm called the company a "revenue compounder," and its price target on the name implies around 27% upside potential as of Friday's close.

The stock has had a positive run this year, with shares soaring nearly 93%. Shares have also risen more than 19% over the past month.

— Sean Conlon

Oppenheimer raises Netflix price target, sees almost 16% upside from here

There may be more room to run for Netflix, according to Oppenheimer.

The firm, which has an outperform rating on the streaming giant, increased its price target by $240, and its updated target now implies 15.9% upside from Friday's close. The stock has already surged more than 88% year to date.

"NFLX remains the only investable mainstream media stock driven by: 1) competition continuing to weaken, benefiting already industry-low churn and driving content cost leverage; and 2) upside to monetization and subscribers estimates as the company has proven it can be a platform for live events further unlocking >500M global households," the firm wrote. "Near-term, we expect positive commentary from NFL Christmas Day games similar to Paul/ Tyson, driving sentiment into 4Q earnings."

The company is expected to report its fourth-quarter results after market close on Jan. 21.

— Sean Conlon

Goldman reiterates buy rating on Broadcom following Q4 results

Goldman Sachs sees even more upside ahead for Broadcom heading into next year.

Shares rose around 3% in the premarket after analyst Toshiya Hari reiterated his buy rating on the stock and hiked his price target. His updated target now reflects almost 7% upside from Friday's close.

"With 1) two additional Custom Compute customers secured, 2) the company's leadership position in AI Ethernet connectivity intact and 3) management executing well in Infrastructure Software (note VMware non-GAAP operating margins have expanded from ~30% immediately ahead of the acquisition to 70% in the quarter just reported), we now have even higher conviction on the company's forward revenue and earnings growth outlook," Hari wrote.

The move comes after the stock passed $1 trillion in market cap for the first time last week on the heels of its better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report. This year, shares have surged more than 101%.

— Sean Conlon

Cocoa futures surge nearly 5% to all-time high Monday

March cocoa contracts climbed as much as $539 or 4.8% to an all-time high of $11,839 per metric tonne (2,205 pounds) Monday.

Traders are adjusting to renewed concern over cocoa bean supplies that "have been compounded by longstanding industry problems, including crop disease and a legacy of low farmer pay," Bloomberg News reported. Higher raw material prices mean higher costs for chocolate manufacturers and higher prices for consumers.

So far in December, Hershey shares are higher by almost 4% while Mondelez has dropped 4.5% through Friday.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

S&P 500 opens higher

The S&P 500 opened higher on Monday as investors look to the final Federal Reserve policy meeting of 2024.

The S&P 500 added 0.25%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.54%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 22 points, or 0.05%.

— Brian Evans

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Ford Motor — The automaker fell 2.1% after Jefferies downgraded shares to underperform from hold. The firm mentioned concerns of an inventory overhang along with valuation.
• Honeywell — The industry giant saw shares rising 3% in premarket trading after the company said its board is exploring the possibility of separating its aerospace division.
• Super Micro Computer — Shares lost nearly 14% following a Friday Bloomberg report that the data center company had hired investment bank Evercore ISI to help it raise equity and debt capital. This comes after Super Micro missed deadlines to file its annual and quarterly financial reports. Concerns have now grown that the company might be delisted by the Nasdaq, despite CEO Charles Liang's reassurance that this will not happen.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Super Micro Computer sinks on Bloomberg report

Shares of server maker Super Micro Computer tumbled nearly 14% Monday morning following a report from Bloomberg, released Friday, that revealed the company had hired investment bank Evercore to potentially help it raise equity and debt capital.

Investors have grown increasingly concerned that Super Micro might be delisted by the Nasdaq after missing previous deadlines to file its annual and quarterly financial reports. CEO Charles Liang's confidence that the stock would not be delisted seemingly did little to assuage these fears. The company now has until February to file its outstanding reports.

The company's woes grew in August after short seller Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in Super Micro, citing alleged "accounting manipulation." In October, Ernst & Young resigned as the company's auditor.

Shares of Super Micro were last trading around 28% higher for the year.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Broadcom's surge continues after joining $1 trillion club

Shares of chipmaker Broadcom advanced more than 3% before the opening bell on Monday, adding to a sharp rise from last week that helped the firm reach a more than $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time.

Broadcom's rise comes after the company reported a steep rise in artificial intelligence-related revenue on Friday, on the heels of better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on the top and bottom lines.

— Brian Evans

Stocks could further gain heading into the end of 2024, says Piper Sandler

There is ample reason to believe stocks will further add to gains heading into the final weeks of trading of the year, according to Piper Sandler.

"As we approach mid-December, the equity markets remain constructive within their primary uptrends,' analyst Craig Johnson wrote Monday. "There appears to be a short-term rotation between large caps and SMID caps within the context of the broadening process, but our breadth indicators remain in buy positions."

"Use 'healthy' pullbacks that confirm support to add to positions as we watch for a 'Santa Claus rally' during the holidays and into year-end," Johnson added.

— Brian Evans

Softbank CEO to announce $100 billion investment in U.S. at Trump visit

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son will announce a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a Monday visit to President-elect Donald Trump's residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, sources told CNBC's Sara Eisen.

The billionaire investor and founder of the Japanese tech-investing firm will also promise in the joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, the sources said.

— John Melloy

Europe stocks open mixed

European stock markets opened mixed on Monday, with the Stoxx 600 index moving between slight losses and gains in early deals.

The index closed 0.77% lower last week, ending a run of three weeks in the green.

— Jenni Reid

Hong Kong leads losses in Asia after key Chinese economic data; other markets mostly down

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly down on Monday, led by Hong Kong's Hang Seng index.

The HSI was down about 1% in its final hour of trade, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 lost 0.54% after China released economic data that missed expectations.

Other indexes in the region saw smaller losses, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down marginally and South Korea's Kospi shedding 0.22%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Traders expect Fed to cut this week, pause in January

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, but traders will be paying close attention to the updated policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference for clues about what comes next.

As of Sunday night, pricing in the Fed funds futures market pointed to a 95.3% likelihood of a rate cut this week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. However, traders are also betting the Fed will pause its rate cutting cycle in January.

That could be a welcome move for investors who are still uneasy with the path of inflation.

Logan Moulton, portfolio manager at Intelligent Wealth Solutions, said inflation appears to be "stickier" than Fed officials previously thought and that there are risks to upward pressure on inflation when the Trump administration takes office.

"Heading into 2025, I think they should at least pause," Moulton said.

— Jesse Pound

Nasdaq Composite up more than 32% year to date

With less than three weeks left in 2024, the three major market averages are on track for a banner year.

The Nasdaq Composite leads the way, with a gain of 32.74% year to date. The S&P 500 has jumped 26.86%, while the Dow is trailing but still up 16.29%.

All 11 sectors are positive for the year, led by a 43.10% gain for communications services.

— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes

MicroStrategy, Palantir to join Nasdaq-100

Three new stocks are set to join the Nasdaq-100 one week from Monday.

Palantir Technologies, MicroStrategy and Axon Enterprise will all join the index prior to the market open on Dec. 23, Nasdaq announced Friday. The stocks will also be added to the holdings of the Invesco QQQ Trust, which has more than $300 billion in assets.

Of those three, MicroStrategy is the most volatile. The stock has become a bitcoin proxy for investors as the former enterprise software company has added the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet, financed in part through debt sales.

Illumina, Super Micro Computer and Moderna will all be removed from the index.

— Jesse Pound

Stock futures open little changed

Stock futures were little changed at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, with the contracts for the three major averages marginally lower.

— Jesse Pound