New York Stocks Mixed in Narrow Range as 'Santa Rally' Hopes Fade Amid Lack of Catalysts

AI Bubble Concerns Lead to Mixed Performance in Related Stocks: Meta Up, Palantir Down
Silver and Gold Rebound... FOMC Minutes in Focus at 2 p.m.

On December 30 (local time), the three major indices on the New York Stock Exchange are moving sideways with mixed results. Following a decline in the previous session due to the poor performance of artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks, the indices are struggling to find upward momentum amid a lack of clear catalysts. Meanwhile, silver and gold prices, which had plunged from record highs the previous day, have begun to recover.

Traders are working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the United States. Photo by AFP

As of 9:32 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 67.4 points (0.14%) from the previous trading day at 48,394.53. The large-cap S&P 500 Index is down 1.28 points (0.02%) at 6,904.46, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index is up 1.366 points (0.01%) at 23,475.715.

By stock, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which acquired Singapore-based startup Manus specializing in general-purpose AI agents, is up 0.95%. Applied Digital has risen 5.48% after announcing that it will spin off its cloud business unit and merge it with Exo Bionics. Palantir is down 0.45%.

Barbara Doran, CEO of BD8 Capital Partners, said in an interview with CNBC, "There are concerns that an excessive AI bubble is forming in the current market."

Amid these developments, with only two trading days left in the year, the so-called 'Santa Claus Rally' has not been clearly observed in the market. Typically, the Santa Rally period is considered to be the last five trading days of December and the first two trading days of January. Since 1950, the S&P 500 Index has risen during this period about 78% of the time, with an average return of 1.3%.

With few major economic indicators being released and trading volume reduced due to the year-end, the market is focusing on the minutes of the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will be released at 2 p.m. Investors are expected to look for clues in these minutes regarding FOMC members' economic outlook and the trajectory of the benchmark interest rate for next year. Previously, at its regular FOMC meeting on December 10, the Fed lowered the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, adjusting it to 3.5-3.75% per annum.

Gold and silver prices have rebounded. The price of silver is up 5%, while gold is up about 1.3%, showing an upward trend after plunging from record highs the previous day.

U.S. Treasury yields are moving within a narrow range. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury is up 1 basis point (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) from the previous day at 4.13%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury, which is sensitive to monetary policy, remains at the previous day's level of 3.46%.