Wall Street closes lower as investors assess data after recent gains

Wall Street closes lower as investors assess data after recent gains

By Echo Wang

Thu December 12, 2024 4:31 PM

It was a shot straight down on all the indexes, particularly the Dow and Nasdaq which both turned in substantial 3-digit losses. One explanation is that investors were taking profits after yesterday’s record-setting day on the Nasdaq passing 20,000 for the first time. Another explanation is that investors are hedging their bets with a PPI number coming in higher than expected as well as an unexpected hike in unemployment claims.  

Yes, even after several months of singing the praises of the economy’s resilient labor market, it took only one data point slightly out of whack to put a pall over all that. This is despite the fact that the overall picture still points to a broad disinflationary trend and that the odds of a ¼ point rate cut next week now stands at a whopping 96%. This is what makes Wall Street so much fun. These numbers should have caused a rally, not a sell-off. Anything can happen. Volume at 13.6 billion is closing in on the 4-week average of 14.17 billion. 

DJ: 44,148.56  -99.27       NAS: 20,034.89  +347.65     S&P: 6,084.19  +49.28        12/11

DJ: 43,914.12  -234.44     NAS: 19,902.84  -132.05      S&P: 6,051.25  -32.94         12/12

Thu 12-12-24 4:31 pm Wall Street closes lower as investors assess data after recent gains | Reuters