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;))