Closing Stock Market Summary
The stock market entered 2024 on a mixed note. Profit-taking activity in the mega cap stocks, and other stocks that outperformed last year, weighed over the broader market following nine-straight weeks of gains to close out 2023.
Apple (AAPL 185.64, -6.89, -3.6%) was an influential loser, dropping more than 3.0% today after a Barclays downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) declined 1.8%.
Still, the major indices held up okay due to some underlying strength in areas of the market that were either left out of the last year's gains or saw less robust gains compared to mega cap stocks. The market-cap weighted S&P 500 fell 0.6% today while the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) closed just above Friday's closing level. The Russell 3000 Value Index rose 0.3% today while the Russell 3000 Growth Index declined 1.5%.
The only three S&P 500 sectors to register a decline in 2023 saw some of the largest gains today. The utilities sector, which fell 10.2% last year, logged a 1.4% gain today. The energy sector, which declined 4.8% in 2023, climbed 1.2% today.
The consumer staples sector, which fell 2.2% last year, closed with a 1.2% gain today.
The health care sector was another top performer today, registered a 1.8% gain.
It was also among the worst performing sectors last year, eking out a 0.3% gain.
On the flip side, weakness in their mega cap constituents weighed on the heavily-weighted information technology (-2.6%), consumer discretionary (-0.9%), and communication services (-0.9%) sectors. The industrial sector was another laggard, dropping 1.0% today.
The Treasury market is experiencing some selling despite increased geopolitical worries in the Red Sea after Iran sent a warship there in response to the U.S.
destroying three Houthi boats. The 2-yr note yield rose eight basis points to 4.33% and the 10-yr note yield rose seven basis points to 3.95%.
- Dow Jones industrial Average: +0.1%
- Nasdaq Composite: -1.6%
- S&P 500: -0.6%
- Russell 2000: -0.7%
- S&P Midcap 400: -0.3%
Reviewing today's economic data:
- December S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI - Final 47.9; Prior 49.4
- November Construction Spending 0.4% (consensus 0.6%); Prior was revised to 1.2% from 0.6%
- The key takeaway from the report is the strength seen in new single-family construction, which is badly needed as the supply of existing homes on the market remains severely constrained.
Wednesday's economic calendar features:
- 7:00 ET: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior -1.5%)
- 10:00 ET: December ISM Manufacturing Index (consensus 47.1%; prior 46.7%) and November job openings (prior 8.733 mln)
- 14:00 ET: December FOMC Minutes