The DOW JONES fell 0.62% to 43,055 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.60% to 6,001 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.63% to 19,895 points.
The major New York indices come from a session with very little trading volume yesterday, Thursday, in which the Dow Jones managed to rise a slight 0.07%, in what was its fifth consecutive day of gains. However, the S&P 500 ended up falling 0.04% and the technology Nasdaq fell 0.05%.
However, the three major US indices are in the green for the week after strong gains before the Christmas break. The S&P 500 is up 1.8% so far this week through Thursday’s close. The index posted its best Christmas Eve performance since 1974 on Tuesday, according to Bespoke Investment Group. The Dow Jones has gained 1.1% this week, while the rally in large-cap technology stocks has propelled the Nasdaq Composite 2.3% higher.
Although trading has been subdued this week, investors expect stocks to rise, boosted by the so-called ‘Santa Claus rally.’ This is the name given to the market’s tendency to rise in the last five trading days of the year and the first two of January.
“The nation is experiencing a collective sigh of relief after navigating a contentious election cycle and unusual market dynamics to finish 2024 with strong year-to-date gains,” says Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer at Parnassus Investments. “Looking ahead to 2025, markets are expected to expand and improve.”
In December, the Nasdaq is on track for a 4.2% advance, boosted by a jump in Tesla and Alphabet shares, as well as a rally in Apple that has brought the iPhone maker closer to a market capitalization of 4 trillion of dollars. The S&P 500 posts a gain of almost 0.1% for the month.
However, The Dow is on track for its worst month since Aprilwith a drop of approximately 3.5%, after having registered up to 10 consecutive days of declines, its worst downward streak in 40 years.
One factor that is affecting the US stock market is the pressure on bond yields. Today the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds is around a seven-month high at 4.594%. The two-year bond pays 4.324%.
Among the stocks to follow this Friday is Netflix after the success of its NFL Christmas Day broadcasts. The matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 24.1 million viewers, and the Baltimore Ravens’ win over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million viewers, making these games the most streamed in NFL history.
In other news, Nippon Steel has extended the deadline to close the purchase of US Steel until March 2025. The Japanese steelmaker has made this decision “given that “The review by US antitrust authorities is still ongoing.” The operation has received criticism from both unions and the outgoing president, Joe Biden, and the incoming president, Donald Trump. The deal called for a cash payment of $14.1 billion, or $55 per share.
AMEDISYS shares rise more than 4.5%, while Unitedhealth shares fall slightly at the open after a filing revealed a new waiver agreement, extending the deadline to close their $3.3 billion merger. The new deadline is 10 days after a final court decision is issued in the lawsuit or December 31, 2025, whichever comes first.
KULR Technology soars 10.40% in the New York morning after having risen more than 40% yesterday. The space technology company has purchased 217.18 bitcoins worth approximately $21 million. The purchase was the company’s first since it announced a new bitcoin treasury initiative on Dec. 4, when bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time.
In commodity markets, oil prices rose nearly 1% on Friday and are headed for a weekly gain, boosted by expectations of an economic recovery in China, the world’s largest oil importer, and by forecasts for lower inventories in the US.
West Texas futures rose 1.18% to $70.44 per barrel, while the benchmark Brent barrel in Europe advanced 1.06% to $73.64.
The dollar continues steadily to close its best year since 2015. Today the euro manages to rise 0.08% against the greenback to leave the exchange rate at 1.0432 dollars for each single currency.
Today in the macroeconomic agenda it has been published the trade balance for November, which shows a deficit of 102.86 billion dollarsabove what was expected. Additionally, the Department of Commerce has announced that the volume of wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in November. The figure for retail inventories, excluding the evolution of the automotive sector, rose 0.6%.
However, it will not be until January 10, when the December employment report is published, when the macroeconomic section returns to the front row.