1 week Ago By New Telegraph
Stocks erased session gains on Thursday to kick off the first trading day of the new year as Wall Street re turned from holiday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.7 per cent after opening in green territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also dropped nearly 0.
7 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.9% after markets reopened from Wednesday’s closure.
Markets were eyeing a comeback after a year-end slide to begin the week dented hopes for a “Santa Claus rally.” The decline capped a blowout 2024 for US stocks that saw the S&P 500 (^GSPC) post two years in a row of over-20 per cent gains — something it hasn’t achieved in almost three decades. Bond yields and the US Dollar Index (DX-Y.
NYB) continued to march higher on Thursday. The 10-year treasury yield was up about two basis points to hover just under 4.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index rose above 109, hitting its highest level since November 2022. Tesla (TSLA) shares slid almost six per cent after the electric vehicle maker posted its first decline in annual deliveries on Thursday morning. Also in focus was news that a Cybertruck loaded with firework mortars and fuel canisters exploded in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing one person.
The FBI is investigating whether the blast outside the Trump International Hotel was an act of terrorism. Over the holiday week, US mortgage rates rose to 6.97 per cent to reach the highest level since early July, data showed.
The gain weighed on applications for home purchases and dented refinancing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest level since March. Data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday morning showed claims of 211,000, a decrease from the previous week’s upwardly revised level of 220,000.
.
