Wall St edges lower after data, strong gains in last session

12:55 pm Thursday, December 12th, 2024

By Purvi Agarwal and Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes inched lower on Thursday after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended the previous session on a positive note, while investors parsed through some of the last economic datasets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.

The Nasdaq soared past the 20,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday as the technology rally showed no signs of a halt, while the S&P 500 closed at its highest in nearly a week after an in-line inflation reading locked in a 25 basis point cut by the Fed at its Dec. 17-18 meeting.

Meanwhile, data showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in November but a moderation in the costs of services offered hope that the disinflationary trend remains in place, while the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week.

“I still think the expectation is for the Fed to cut rates next week and so the market is looking past the numbers that came out today,” said Leslie Thompson, chief investment officer at Spectrum Wealth Management.

Thompson also added that there was some profit-taking as markets “came off of a strong day with the Nasdaq making all-time highs yesterday.”

Trader bets on the cut next week stand at over 98%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. However, they indicate expectations of a pause in January after several Fed officials last week urged caution over the pace of monetary policy easing as the economy remained resilient.

At 11:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.41 points, or 0.04%, to 44,128.72, the S&P 500 lost 8.74 points, or 0.14%, to 6,075.45 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 35.53 points, or 0.18%, to 19,999.37.

Seven of the 11 major S&P sub-sectors were trading lower, with the energy sector at the bottom with a 0.6% decline.

Megacap and growth stocks were mixed, with Nvidia down 1.7%, while Microsoft gained 1.4%.

Adobe’s 12.5% slide after the Photoshop maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street expectations also added to the technology sector’s losses.

Wall Street’s main indexes have set new record highs multiple times this year, thanks to a rally driven by heavyweight tech stocks that have exploited the euphoria around artificial intelligence and the Fed’s interest rate cuts.

U.S. equities capped off a remarkable November after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on the prospects of business-friendly policies adding to corporate profits, and have kicked off December on a broadly positive note.

Among significant movers, Warner Bros Discovery jumped 14.2% after the media giant decided to separate its declining cable TV business from the streaming and studio operations.

Nordson lost 8% as the dispensing equipment maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street estimates, while health insurer Centene gained 1.2% after forecasting its 2025 profit above estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.88-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 99 new lows.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)