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Stocks moved lower on Monday in one of the last few trading sessions of 2024, potentially putting a sour ending on a banner year for investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials caught up somewhat from Monday’s disastrous open, but was still off 375.48 points to greet noon EST at 42,616.73.
The S&P 500 index slipped 52.03 points to 5,918.91.
The NASDAQ stumbled 182.62 points to 19,539.41.
There was no apparent news catalyst for Monday’s decline and trading was expected to be light given the shortened week.
The major averages are heading into the yearend shy of record levels, with the S&P 500 surging 23% and Dow up more than 12%, and on track for the best year since 2021. The NASDAQ has gained more than 29% in 2024.
The benchmarks are also headed for a winning fourth quarter, with the NASDAQ on pace for its longest quarterly winning streaking since 2021.
However, some worries have mounted that the market may be losing momentum, with what appears to be year-end profit taking after the major averages notched losing sessions Friday. Large tech stocks were struggling again on Monday, with shares of Tesla losing 2.2% and Amazon falling 1.2%. Chip giant Nvidia did rise less than 1%, helping to stem losses elsewhere.
Investors are hoping that stocks will find their footing again and trigger what’s known as a Santa Claus Rally. The phenomenon refers to the market rising into the final five trading days of a calendar year and the first two in January. The S&P 500 has returned 1.3% on average during this period since 1950.
The upcoming days are a light period for economic data, with the market closed Wednesday in observance of New Years Day.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained ground, lowering yields to 4.56% from Friday’s 4.61 %. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 63 cents to $71.23 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold ditched $20.20 an ounce to $2,611.70 U.S.
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