U.S. stocks entered afternoon trading lower as Wall Street struggled to end a largely triumphant year.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) fell 2.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1.1%. Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yield (^TNX) hovered around 4.6%, near a seven-month high.
Some of the biggest tech companies that have racked up impressive gains this year are losing ground as investors take profits, rebalance portfolios and reassess lofty valuations. . Tesla (TSLA) fell more than 4% on Friday. Nvidia (NVDA) fell nearly 3%, and Amazon (AMZN) fell 2.5%.
Wall Street has just three trading days left in a lucrative year in 2024, but the market has failed to mount a “Santa Claus” rally towards the end of the year.
The market has mostly digested the rest of the year’s key economic data, and investors are now focusing on two big themes for next year: the direction of the Federal Reserve’s interest rates and the impact of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. is paying attention to.
As for the former, stocks have largely accepted the Fed’s plan to reduce interest rate cuts next year after an initial selloff last week. Bets are now squarely on the Fed’s next rate cut in May, as it continues to tackle stubborn inflation while keeping an eye on the cooling labor market.
And on the latter, Yahoo Finance’s Ben Welshkul says that while Trump talked about big plans during the campaign, especially regarding the economy, those plans will soon receive a reality check from other major powers. He writes that he may face it.
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