Wall Street dans le rouge, sans conviction à l’approche des fêtes
December 24, 2024
US stocks dip as “Santa Claus rally” stalls, 10-year Treasury yields touch 8-month high
December 26, 2024The market had a “nice rebound today” in “an abbreviated session,” Peter Cardillo told AFP.
The closing bell rang at 1800 GMT on Tuesday, three hours earlier than usual, and Wall Street will be closed on Wednesday, Christmas Day.
In addition, trading volume was “below average” for the holiday period, Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com noted in a note.
Tuesday also marked the start of the “Santa Claus rally,” the period of the last five sessions of the year that generally smiles on investors.
From technology to energy, healthcare and industrials, “most sectors” ended “up,” Cardillo noted. “The gains made by (…) large caps (stimulated) the performance of the indices,” O’Hare also noted. Apple (+1.15%), Nvidia (+0.39%), Microsoft (+0.94%), Amazon (+1.77%), Alphabet (+0.81%) and Meta (+1.32%) all gained ground.
No major indicators were expected today. On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds eased slightly, to 4.59%, compared to 4.60% the previous day at the close.
Banking sector in vogue
Elsewhere, the American banking sector was sought after, like JPMorgan (+1.64%), Bank of America (+1.13%) or Citigroup (+1.94%), after announcing Tuesday that it was taking legal action against the American Central Bank (Fed), considering that its annual stress tests were “opaque” and ultimately harmed economic growth.
The banks claim in particular that these tests – intended to measure their ability to overcome a financial crisis – limit the volume of loans they could grant to individuals and businesses, affecting employment, capital markets and increasing the cost of credit.
The American coffee giant Starbucks did well (+2.82%), while an employees’ union announced that the strike that began on Friday now affects 300 establishments in the United States. Workers United engaged in a standoff with the coffee chain, accusing it of failing to “present workers with a serious economic proposal” after months of discussions over working conditions and wages.
The weather turned cloudy for UnitedHealth (-0.55%), which was still reeling from the assassination of the head of its health insurance branch, Brian Thompson, in New York in early December. Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer, pleaded not guilty on Monday in New York to the charge of murder as a “terrorist” act.
US Steel gained momentum (+1.75%), while US President Joe Biden, who has already expressed his opposition to the takeover of the American steelmaker by its Japanese competitor Nippon Steel, now has two weeks to make a decision after the panel tasked with evaluating the takeover failed to reach a consensus.
