BUZZ-Palantir, Nvidia set to top S&P 500 in 2024 on AI fever; Walgreens slumps

Wall Street is set to close 2024 with stocks riding high as AI hype and robust economic growth powered indexes to record highs

A tech rally has put Palantir Technologies PLTR.O and Nvidia NVDA.O on course to emerge as top performers in the benchmark S&P 500 index

PLTR is set to lead gains this year with a 347.5% rise, while NVDA is up 176.9%, as investors placed heavy bets on the promise of emergent AI technology

Exuberance for equities rose after Donald Trump's Nov. 5 presidential election win, on expectations of looser regulation, tax cuts, and a crypto boost that helped bitcoin BTC= surge to a 128% annual gain

S&P 500 .SPX is on track to finish about 24% higher this year after a similar jump last year, in its strongest two-year streak since 1998

Shares of utility firm Vistra VST.N up 261.6% this year, with co banking on rising demand for clean and sustainable power from AI data centers

On the flip side, drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA.O was the worst performer on the index, falling 64.1% this year; co to shut 1,200 stores over the next three years as new CEO Tim Wentworth plots a turnaround

Intel INTC.O fell 59.7% this year as it struggled to regain its lost lead in manufacturing and missed out on the AI boom

Moderna MRNA.O fell 58.6% in 2024; the vaccine maker's shares were further hurt after Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru)

((Sukriti.Gupta@thomsonreuters.com;))