“Wall Street edged lower on Thursday amid choppy trading as investors entered the new year faced with a cross-flow of strong labor data, a stronger dollar and a drop in Tesla shares.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Wall Street edged lower on Thursday amid choppy trading as investors entered the new year faced with a cross-flow of strong labor data, a stronger dollar and a drop in Tesla shares. Reuters writes about it. All three major US stock indexes ended the session in the red, turning around from the previous rally, but not reaching session lows. Shares of Tesla fell 6.1% after reporting a first-year drop in shipments as stimulus failed to stem a decline in demand for its aging lineup of electric vehicles.Advertisement: A report from the U.S. Labor Department showed both initial and ongoing claims for benefits fell last week from unemployment, supporting claims of a stable labor market and adding weight to the possibility that the US central bank may leave the key interest rate unchanged for meetings this month. Despite uncertainty about the pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, policies to be pursued by the new Donald Trump administration, and various hot spots of geopolitical unrest, market participants chose to focus on the strengths of the United States economy. Wall Street’s major indexes posted double-digit gains in 2024, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting its best two-year gain since 1997-1998.Advertisement: The rally fizzled in the final weeks of 2024, as the S&P 500 and Dow declined in December as markets estimated the likelihood of fewer Fed rate cuts this year. The S&P and Nasdaq indexes have been in the red for five consecutive sessions, the longest losing streak since mid-April. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to 42,392.27, the S&P 500 fell 13.08 points, or 0.22%, to 5,868.55, and the Nasdaq Composite by 30.00 points, or by 0.16%, to 19,280.79. Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer stocks were the biggest losers, led by Tesla shares. We will remind: Tesla company sold 1.79 million electric cars last year – this is less than the figure for 2023, and also lower than analysts’ forecast. Annual sales fell for the first time in more than a decade, despite a positive trend at the end of the year.