Last year ended with a rally in most assets, sparked by the belief that the Federal Reserve will soon begin cutting interest rates. The derivatives markets assume that the first interest rate cut will take place as early as March. There is great optimism on Wall Street about this year's stock market outlook.
However, today investors retreated from the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. Meanwhile, government bonds rose, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield near 4%.
The most important stock indices mostly fell. The technology-focused Nasdaq led the way, down 1.6%, as shares of Apple and major chipmakers came under pressure. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%.
Dow industrials rose less than 0.1% to hit a new record close. Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose 1.2% and ended up hitting their own record high.
Oil prices fell after initially surging when Iranian state media reported that Tehran had sent a warship into the Red Sea; Maersk said it would suspend all transit through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. US crude oil prices for the previous month fell 1.8% to $70.38 per barrel.
Bitcoin climbed above $45,000.
Government bond yields rose. The 10-year yield rose to 3.944%, a third straight daily increase.
The Japanese yen weakened after a strong earthquake while the stock market was closed for a holiday. Chinese data showed manufacturing activity fell in December. Mainland stocks fell.
Comments are closed.