Major stock indexes end red; Nasdaq down most
Financials down among S&P sectors; healthcare leads gainers
US dollar edges up; gold surges ~1%; crude up >1%; bitcoin down
US Treasury 10-year yield up at ~4.20%
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
WALL STREET COOLS ITS JETS AS CPI LOOMS
Wall Street took its foot off the accelerator and tapped the brake on Monday, easing back from all-time closing highs as investors looked to major inflation data later in the week.
All three major indexes lost ground, with 1%+ declines Nvidia NVDA.O and Meta Platforms META.O pulling the tech-laden Nasdaq down furthest.
The modest sell-off follows on the heels Friday's session, which culminated in the S&P 500's 57th record closing high of the year, and the Nasdaq's 36th.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 226.14 points, or 0.51%, to 44,416.38, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 36.59 points, or 0.60%, to 6,053.68 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 123.08 points, or 0.62%, to 19,736.69.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Labor Department is due to release November consumer and producer price index data (CPI and CPI), both of which are expected headline prices heating up a bit.
CPI and PPI are predicted to notch year-on-year readings of 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively; both hotter than the previous month but both within one percentage point of Powell & Co's elusive 2% annual inflation goal.
Should these data behave as expected, they would appear to confirm that inflation is taking a year-end breather before attempting to traverse what's turning out to be a tricky final mile before reaching that target.
All of this, of course, is prologue to the Fed's last monetary policy meeting of 2024, expected to convene next week.
Financial markets have priced in an 85.8% likelihood that the central bank will issue its third consecutive rate cut at the conclusion of that meeting, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Looking ahead into 2025, the picture becomes a bit more muddled.
The probability that Powell & Friends will let rates stand in January is at 67.5% and growing, given stubborn inflation and generally robust economic data.
Geopolitical jitters moved from simmer to low boil following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which, along with Beijing signaling a looser monetary policy, helped push oil prices higher.
Also weighing on risk appetite is uncertainty regarding whether President-elect Donald Trump will make good on his tariff threats and the extent to which those threats might be bluster/a negotiating tactic.
Here's your closing snapshot:
(Stephen Culp)
*****
FOR MONDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
NOT MUCH ROOM FOR LONG-TERM US TREASURY YIELDS TO DECLINE - CLICK HERE
S&P 500 REBALANCING APPROACHES - CLICK HERE
CHARGE IT: OCTOBER CREDIT BALANCE GROWTH BLASTS PAST ESTIMATES - CLICK HERE
WALL STREET FLAT AHEAD OF INFLATION DATA THIS WEEK - CLICK HERE
THE U.S. - RARELY SO EXCEPTIONAL - CLICK HERE
ROTATION AWAY FROM WALL STREET: CATALYSTS MISSING! CLICK HERE
EUROZONE STOCKS OUTPERFORMANCE WON'T TAKE MUCH IN 2025 CLICK HERE
STOXX GETS CHINA LIFT CLICK HERE
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: QUIET START, ECB COMING INTO VIEW CLICK HERE
MARKETS KEEP CALM AS SYRIA FALLS IN A RUSH CLICK HERE
Closing snapshot https://reut.rs/3BbZdrA
