Friends
Take your pick. Omicron, hawkish Fed, no more fiscal stimulus (Build Back Better), inflation, valuation- any or all of these could be attributed to the continued weakness in the stock market. Once again stocks were under pressure from the opening bell and remained decisively in negative territory throughout the trading session (but did close off the lows of the session).
By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 433 points to finish the day at 34,932. The S&P 500 was down 52 points to close at 4,568. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 188 points to close at 14,980. Gold was down $13 to trade at $1,791 per ounce, while oil was down $2.20 to trade at $68.66 per barrel WTI.
Remember, this is a shortened trading week with the markets closed Friday for Christmas Eve. The man in the red suit isn’t due for a few days yet, but when he gets here he’ll be facing some stiff head winds. But, despite the difficult environment, stocks as measured by the S&P are down less than 4% from all-time highs. Now, we know the average stock is down quite a bit more and that Apple, Microsoft and a few others mask some of the damage. Regardless, let’s see if the volatility lessens into the Christmas holiday. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
