New York Stock Market Starts Up on First Trading Day of Final Week This Year

The major indices of the U.S. New York stock market are showing a unified upward trend in the early trading session on the 26th (local time) as they begin the first trading day of the last week of the year.

At around 10:08 a.m. at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at around 37,458 points, up 0.19% from the previous close. The S&P 500 index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, was up 0.29% at 4,768 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was up 0.39% at 15,052 points. The market was closed on Monday, the previous day, due to the Christmas holiday.

All sectors except health-related stocks in the S&P 500 index are on the rise. Intel rose about 3% from the previous close following foreign media reports that it will build a new factory in Israel. Manchester United rose more than 3% on news that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe purchased shares.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Investors are paying close attention to whether the New York stock market can close the last trading week of 2023 on an upward trend. The S&P 500 index has risen for eight consecutive weeks through last week, approaching the all-time high of 4,796.56 recorded in January 2022. Therefore, it is crucial whether it can surpass this record within the year. Currently, the market outlook is divided between expectations of further rallies this week fueled by hopes for interest rate cuts next year and the possibility of profit-taking following the recent rally.

The expectation that the Fed will begin cutting interest rates next year has been a major factor supporting the recent stock market. Robert Kaplan, former president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, appeared on CNBC on this day and said, "One reason we got stuck with the inflation problem is that the Federal Reserve (Fed) kept policy too accommodative for too long," adding, "The Fed will not want to make the same mistake by being too restrictive," thus supporting interest rate cuts.

Economic indicators released late last week also strengthened these expectations for rate cuts and hopes for a soft landing. The core PCE price index for November, a preferred inflation gauge of the Fed, rose 3.2% year-over-year, marking the smallest increase since April 2021. Amid the ongoing trend of slowing inflation, durable goods orders in November increased by 5.4% compared to the previous month, far exceeding Wall Street's forecast of 2.0%.

Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat, a leading bullish market research firm on Wall Street, evaluated in an investor memo that "the overall narrative on inflation is supporting the stock market."

In the New York bond market, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to around 3.89%. The 2-year yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy, is moving around 4.36%. The dollar index, which measures the value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of six major countries, is trading at around 101.5, down more than 0.1%.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index for October, released on this day, rose 4.8% year-over-year, the highest level since 2023. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November turned positive at 0.03, indicating that the economy is growing above its long-term average growth rate.

European stock markets were closed for Boxing Day.