US Stocks Decline Despite Best Two-Year Performance Since 1998
US stocks ended the year lower, capping off a strong two-year run since 1998, amid concerns over economic policies and market momentum.
US, Stocks, S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Market Trends
New York: So, the stock market had a bit of a rough day to wrap up the year. Even though US stocks dipped, they still managed to have their best two-year stretch since 1998. Pretty wild, right?
The S&P 500 dropped by 0.4%, marking its fourth consecutive day of losses. That’s the longest losing streak to end a year since way back in 1966. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.9%, while the Dow Jones was down just a smidge at 0.1%. On the flip side, the Russell 2000 Index actually gained 0.1%.
This year, the S&P 500 saw a whopping 23% increase, mainly thanks to all the buzz around AI advancements. But things slowed down a bit in the last quarter, with investors getting a bit nervous about President-elect Trump’s policies and the Federal Reserve possibly cutting rates less than expected.
December wasn’t too kind to the markets either, with the S&P 500 down 2.5% for the month, its worst showing since April. Right now, it’s trading below its 50-day moving average, which is a key level for many traders. Only 18% of stocks are above that average, which isn’t great.
It seems like December has been a tough month for most US stock indexes. The small-cap Russell 2000 is down over 8% this month, marking its worst performance since September 2022.
Walter Todd, who’s the president and chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates, mentioned that the market was really focused on a few top stocks in November and early December. Once those stocks took a breather, the whole market lost some steam. He also pointed out that valuations are pretty high, and there are a lot of uncertainties with the new administration and rising interest rates.
In other news, US Steel shares jumped after a report that Nippon Steel offered the Biden administration a veto over output cuts to get approval for its merger. Meanwhile, Sangamo Therapeutics saw its shares plummet after Pfizer pulled out of their collaboration on a new gene therapy.
So, keep an eye on homebuilder stocks since October home prices rose more than expected. And don’t forget about crypto stocks like MARA Holdings and MicroStrategy, as Bitcoin just had its biggest gain in over a week.