Wall St poised for dull start to 2024, Apple dips
Send a link to a friend
[January 02, 2024] By
Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures slipped on Tuesday, setting a somber
tone for the first trading day of 2024, as Apple dipped on a broker
downgrade and investors pondered if last year's big market gains could
be sustained.
The three major U.S. stock indexes notched monthly, quarterly and annual
gains on Friday as traders priced in higher chances of interest rate
cuts from the Federal Reserve this year on the back of cooling
inflation.
For 2023, the benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the blue-chip
Dow posted double-digit gains. The S&P 500 wrapped up Friday within 1%
of its record closing high reached on Jan. 3, 2022.
However, U.S. stock futures came under pressure on Tuesday, with the
yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, a benchmark for global borrowing
costs, ticking above 4.0000% to a two-week high earlier in the session,
before easing to 3.9594%.
Megacap stocks including Nvidia, Tesla and Alphabet lost between 0.7%
and 1.1% in premarket trading. Apple fell 1.8% after Barclays downgraded
the iPhone maker's stock to "underweight".
At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 196 points, or 0.52%, S&P 500
e-minis were down 33.75 points, or 0.7%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were
down 173.25 points, or 1.02%.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/02/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Following a blockbuster 2023, boosted by optimism around artificial
intelligence and stabilizing interest rates, more inflation data and
looming presidential elections will put the prospect of further market
gains to test.
S&P Global's final reading of U.S. manufacturing activity for December
is due at 9:45 a.m. ET. Other economic data this week includes weekly
jobless claims, monthly private and non-farm payrolls data as well as
services sector data.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/010224PIX/busine42.jpg)
People walk around the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S.,
December 29, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/02/images/ads/current/atlantabank_lda_LUAL_2023.png)
Market participants are also awaiting the Fed's December policy
meeting minutes, scheduled for release on Wednesday, to ascertain
the timing of the widely anticipated rate cuts.
"Should the minutes reveal that rate cuts were a main topic in
policymakers' discussion, and should Friday's jobs data point to
some further softness of the labor market, traders may be tempted to
add to their rate cut bets," said Charalampos Pissouros, senior
investment analyst at XM.
Traders see a near 90% chance of a pause in rate hikes in the
January meeting, and an about 82% chance of at least a 25-basis
point cut for the March meeting, according to the CME Group's
FedWatch tool.
Stocks of companies linked to cryptocurrencies gained premarket.
Coinbase Global and MicroStrategy jumped 4.1% and 7.7%,
respectively, as bitcoin stormed above $45,000 for the first time
since April 2022 on optimism around the possible approval of
exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds.
Energy majors such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron gained 0.8% and 1%,
respectively, tracking a jump in crude prices after a naval clash in
the Red Sea raised the chances of Middle East supply disruptions.
[O/R]
Boeing shed 1.3% after Goldman Sachs removed the aerospace company
from its "conviction list".
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;
Editing by Devika Syamnath)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |