[Good Morning Stock Market] US Stock Market Santa Rally, Domestic Market "Focus on Dividend Stock Movements"

The U.S. stock market continued its 'Santa Rally.' The domestic stock market is expected to focus on the supply and demand of dividend stocks as the dividend record date approaches.

Reuters Yonhap News

On the 24th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 390.08 points (0.91%) from the previous trading day to close at 43,297.03. The S&P 500, which is centered on large-cap stocks, increased by 65.97 points (1.10%) to 6,040.04, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 266.24 points (1.35%) to close at 20,031.13.

On that day, the U.S. stock market, which closed early at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, showed all three major indices gaining around 1% after experiencing a sharp correction following last week's hawkish Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) results, as steady bargain buying flowed in.

By sector, all sectors were strong. In particular, consumer discretionary surged more than 2%, while financials, technology, and communication services also rose more than 1%.

Among individual stocks, all members of the large tech group 'Magnificent 7 (M7)' showed strength, with Tesla surging 7.36%. Semiconductor large caps such as Broadcom (3.15%) and Nvidia (0.39%) also rose on news that the Joe Biden administration has launched an investigation into unfair trade practices involving Chinese-made general-purpose semiconductors.

The domestic stock market is expected to pay attention to the movements of dividend stocks. Ji-won Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "Today, the domestic stock market is the dividend record date for December fiscal year-end companies, so a differentiated trend centered on high-dividend stocks expected to attract inflows is anticipated. However, due to domestic and external uncertainties and the burden of a high exchange rate, the impact of the U.S. rally is expected to be limited. The driving force for an increase is still lacking, so a cautious approach is necessary."

The iM Securities Research Center advised, "There is expected demand for dividend stock investment today, but investors should be cautious as major shareholders may sell shares to avoid capital gains tax."

Also, the market is busy searching for companies expected to deliver better-than-expected earnings ahead of the Q4 earnings season early next year. Tae-hyun Seol, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, pointed out, "The Q4 operating profit forecast has been revised down by 11.8% compared to the beginning of the quarter. Sectors such as household goods, materials, and hardware are expected to have a higher proportion of companies reporting earnings below market expectations, while food and tobacco, securities, utilities, and display sectors have a higher proportion of companies expected to deliver surprise earnings."