After a sharp decline at the beginning of Monday's session, stocks managed to recover some ground throughout the trading day, yet they remained deeply in the red. The key indexes compounded the substantial losses experienced last Friday.
The Dow rose from its lowest point after plummeting over 700 points in early trade, ultimately closing the day down by 418.48 points, or 1.0%, at 42,573.73.
The technology-centric Nasdaq fell by 235.25 points, or 1.2%, to 19,486.78, while the S&P 500 dropped 63.90 points, or 1.1%, landing at 5,906.94.
The initial sell-off on Wall Street continued Friday's downturn, with some traders opting to secure profits as the year draws to a close.
Despite recent declines, the major indexes are still positioned to achieve significant gains for 2024, with the Nasdaq showing an impressive year-to-date increase of nearly 30%.
Technology stocks, although partially rebounding from their initial lows, concluded the day considerably lower.
Notable weakness was observed among semiconductor stocks, highlighted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's 1.9% decline.
Beyond the tech industry, gold stocks faced substantial declines, driven by a fall in the metal's price, which pulled the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.8%.
Pharmaceutical, healthcare, and retail sectors also experienced marked weakness, aligning with the negative trend across most major sectors.
The Dow was further weighed down by Boeing's (BA) shares, which dropped 2.3% following South Korea's Transport Ministry's order for inspections of B737-800 aircraft after the fatal Jeju Air incident over the weekend.
The initial sell-off might have been exaggerated due to lower-than-average trading volumes, as many traders were absent ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.
In economic news, a report from the National Association of Realtors revealed a significant surge in pending home sales for November, exceeding expectations.
NAR reported that its pending home sales index rose by 2.2%, reaching 79.0 in November, following a 1.8% increase to 77.3 in October. Economists had anticipated a more modest rise of 0.7%.
This marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in the pending home sales index, pushing it to its highest point since February 2023.
**Other Markets**
In Asian markets, the stock exchanges mostly trended lower on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index decreased by 1.0%, and South Korea's KOSPI edged down by 0.2%. Conversely, China's Shanghai Composite Index defied the trend, inching up by 0.2%.
In Europe, major markets closed in negative territory. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.6%, while both the German DAX Index and the UK's FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4%.
In the bond market, treasuries made a recovery following last Friday's weakness, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note declining by 7.4 basis points to 4.545%.
**Looking Ahead**
With the absence of significant U.S. economic data, it's likely that Tuesday will be another day of light trading, as some traders may start their New Year's Eve celebrations early.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
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