Wall St closes slightly higher after four days of liquidation
Dec 20 (Reuters) – Wall Street closed slightly higher on Tuesday after four sessions of declines, but investors worried weak Christmas buying and rising bond yields added pressure after the surprise tightening of monetary policy. of the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
Fears about the Federal Reserve’s plan to continue raising US interest rates have weighed heavily on stocks since its policy meeting last week.
The pressure was added to a rise in US Treasury yields after the BOJ made a surprise adjustment to its bond yield control that allows long-term interest rates to rise further.
“The Bank of Japan news moved the bond market and it continues to have an impact,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer, Independent Advisor Alliance, Charlotte, NC.
Investors were also worried about the current quarter’s earnings season and holiday shopping.
“We started with some pretty reasonable expectations, but retailers have to do massive sales,” said Carol Schleif, deputy director of investment, BMO’s family office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, noting that consumers this year are veering toward “services and events – holidays”. tickets and restaurant gift certificates and the like, as opposed to another sweater or another bag.”
Schleif noted that investors are cautious after a volatile year in stocks with the S&P on track for its biggest annual decline since the 2008 financial crisis.
“People have been given their heads all year and they don’t have enough confidence to want to intervene,” he said.
“That’s what leads to this kind of push-pull market where it’s a little bit up and down and it’s really hard for any segment of the investing public to want to spin a narrative where they’d put a lot of money behind it.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 92.2 points, or 0.28%, to 32,849.74, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 3.96 points, or 0.10%, to 3,821.62 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 1.08 points, or 0.01%, to 10,547.11.
Among the top 11 sectors in the S&P 500, the energy index (.SPNY) it gained more, ending up 1.52% as crude prices rose.
Of the four sectors that declined, consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) was the weakest, ending down 1.13%.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average (.DJT) closed down 1.3% after underperforming the broader market during the session following JPMorgan’s bearish research on trucking companies.
FedEx Corp (FDX.N) closed down 2.6% ahead of its quarterly report. But shares of the delivery company, which scared the entire market in September by pulling out its financial forecast, last rose more than 3% in after-bell volatility following its fiscal second-quarter report and the guide for 2023.
In fixed income, US Treasury prices fell after the BOJ’s shock move, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rising to a three-week high of 3.71%.
Also on Tuesday, data showed US single-family home construction fell to a 2 1/2-year low in November and future building permits tumbled as higher mortgage rates continued to depress market activity. real-estate market.
General Mills Inc. (GIS.N) The shares sank 4.6% after quarterly sales at its high-margin pet business took a hit as key retailers cut inventory, eclipsing a rise in its full-year profit and sales forecast. .
tesla inc (TSLA.O) Shares fell 8% after at least three brokerages cut the electric vehicle maker’s price target amid growing concerns about weak demand and the risk of Chief Executive Elon Musk’s Twitter difficulties.
Wells Fargo and company (WFC.N) it fell 2% after US regulators fined the lender $3.7bn, citing widespread mismanagement of auto loans, mortgages and deposit accounts.
Advancing issuances outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of 1.12 to 1; on Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week high and 14 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite posted 64 new highs and 399 new lows.
On US exchanges, 10.52 billion shares changed hands, compared with an average of 11.15 billion over the past 20 trading days.
Reporting by Shubham Batra, Johann M Cherian and Sruthi Shankar in Bangalore; Edited by Maju Samuel, Anil D’Silva and David Gregorio
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