cmart7327/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Major market averages have opened Thursday’s trading to the downside, with lower volume expected with many traveling ahead of the Christmas long weekend.
Early on and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP.IND) lost 2.1%, the S&P 500 (SP500) declined by 1.5%, and the Dow (DJI) slid by 1.2%.
Fueling some of the negative sentiment is billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper, who stated he’s been “leaning short” equities in the last couple of weeks as he doesn’t see interest rates coming down soon around the world.
“The 2022 bear market will be remembered as a year when collapsing growth stock valuations and rising interest rates doomed almost every asset class to return purgatory,” Scott Opsal, director for equities at Leuthold Weeden, said. “Hopes for avoiding a second down year rest with a potential top in interest rates and solid earnings underpinning the stock market.”
“Wall Street strategists have a year-end 2023 price target of just over 4,000 for the S&P 500, a few percentage points of upside from today but hardly reason to toast a prosperous new year,” he said.
Rates were mixed. The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) was lower by 2 basis points to 3.65%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) rose 3 basis points to 4.24%.
The economic calendar is fairly busy as the final measure of Q3 GDP growth was revised upward to 3.2%, which was more than the expected 2.9%.
At the same time initial jobless claims rose by 2K to 216K compared to the anticipated 225K.
Additionally, the November index of leading indicators came in at -1.0% to 113.5 compared to the expected -0.5% figure.
Among active stocks, Micron is lower post-earnings after announcing layoffs.
