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U.S. stocks opened on a somber note as Wall Street plodded toward the end of a largely triumphant year.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost about 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 1.3% Friday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost 0.3%. Meanwhile, 10-year Treasury yields (^TNX) hovered around a seven-month high of around 4.6%.
Wall Street has just three trading days left in a 2024 full of big gains and hopes to resume a ‘Santa Claus’ rally by the end of the year. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) is up more than 26% this year, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) is up more than 30%. The blue-chip Dow Jones (^DJI) is up a more modest 14%.
Markets have largely digested the year’s remaining key economic data, and investors are now turning their attention to two big themes for the year ahead: the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path and the implications of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
On the former, stocks have largely heeded the Fed’s plans to scale back interest rate cuts next year, after an initial decline last week. Expectations have now shifted completely to May, the next meeting when the Fed will cut rates, as it continues to grapple with persistent inflation while keeping a close eye on a cooling labor market.
And on the latter, Ben Werschkul of Yahoo Finance writes that although Trump expressed his big plans during the campaign, especially on the economy, these plans could soon undergo a reality check from other major power players.
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