NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks fell on Thursday and U.S. Treasury yields hit the highest level since April in light post-Christmas trading.
The modest but widespread sell-off sent all three major U.S. stock indexes down modestly despite the so-called Santa Claus rally, in which stocks often get a boost during the holiday season due to low liquidity, tax-loss harvesting and the investment of year-end bonuses. .
“It’s light volume and we’re now recouping some earlier losses due to some profit-taking from Tuesday’s rally,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“I think we’re in the Santa Claus rally, with a little bump in the road today, and it’s probably safe to say the year-end rally will continue.” With just a handful of trading days left in the year, the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow have posted respective gains of 33%, 26%, and 14% in 2024.
The main concerns for 2025 are the extent of the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing, Trump’s tariffs and other policies, and various geopolitical tensions.
On the economic front, new claims for unemployment benefits were slightly below analyst estimates, while ongoing claims rose to their highest number since November 2021, suggesting that laid-off workers are increasingly having more difficulties finding new jobs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.97 points, or 0.07 percent, to 43,268.06, the S&P 500 fell 4.50 points, or 0.07 percent, to 6,035.54 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 18.10 points, or 0.09 percent, to 20,013.03.
Published in Dawn, December 27, 2024
