US open: New trading year starts with early losses

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Tuesday as the market comes off an unexpectedly strong year for major indices. As of 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.05% at 37,672.04, while the S&P 500 fell 0.64% to 4,739.54 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.58% weaker at 14,773.72.

The Dow opened 17.50 points lower on Tuesday, extending modest losses recorded in the final session of 2023.

Energy was in focus at the start of trading, with oil prices surging on news that US naval forces had repelled an attack on a container ship in the Red Sea, pushing West Texas Intermediate up 2.46% at $73.41 a barrel and driving Brent crude 2.45% higher at $78.93 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the US dollar firmed up sharply this morning as the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note rallied eight basis points to 3.96% - a level not seen since mid-December - and its two-year counterpart was more than seven basis points higher at 4.325%. Falling bond yields helped drive much of 2023's strong late-year rally.

On the macro front, S&P Global's manufacturing PMI fell to 47.9 points in December, down from 49.40 in November and a preliminary reading of 48.2, indicating that manufacturing conditions had deteriorated further last month. Output returned to a decline and the downturn in new orders gathered pace, selling prices increased at the quickest rate since April, and muted client demand led to a third successive monthly drop in employment. Business confidence, on the other hand, rose to a three-month high. The manufacturing PMI hit an all-time high of 63.4 in July 2021, while its record low of 36.1 points was recorded in April 2020.

Elsewhere, construction spending rose 0.4% month-on-month in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.05bn, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 1.2% rise in October and falling short of consensus estimates for a reading of 0.6% growth. Private spending advanced by 0.7% in the period, driven by a 1.1% increase in the residential segment, while public spending was 0.7% lower. On a yearly basis, construction spending grew 11.3% in November.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $296.09 2.80% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $111.44 2.22% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $38.53 2.19% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $160.13 2.16% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $26.44 1.28% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $150.87 1.15% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $532.47 1.14% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $148.18 1.12% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $158.87 0.77% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.32 0.66%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.70 -3.08% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $186.81 -2.97% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $257.27 -2.23% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $368.64 -1.97% Boeing Co. (BA) $257.01 -1.40% Nike Inc. (NKE) $107.31 -1.16% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $162.34 -0.74% Visa Inc. (V) $258.63 -0.66% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $384.30 -0.38% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $90.09 -0.22%

S&P 500 - Risers

Travel + Leisure Co (TNL) $41.03 4.98% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $95.40 4.71% Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.58 3.49% Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $33.28 3.42% Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $37.98 3.18% Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $157.09 3.05% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $296.09 2.80% Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $52.72 2.76% Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $29.57 2.71% Dollar General Corp (DG) $139.32 2.48%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $141.14 -4.25% Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $19.22 -4.09% Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $124.63 -3.75% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $156.67 -3.33% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $479.14 -3.25% Carnival Corp. (CCL) $17.95 -3.18% Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.70 -3.08% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $186.81 -2.97% Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $264.74 -2.80% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $761.81 -2.74%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $95.40 4.71% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $296.09 2.80% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $899.61 2.43% Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $82.91 2.35% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $64.20 2.25% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.89 2.20% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $264.26 2.12% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.59 2.10% Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $144.39 1.65% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $8.84 1.61%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $27.67 -4.22% Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $728.77 -3.72% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $156.67 -3.33% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $479.14 -3.25% Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.70 -3.08% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $115.44 -3.06% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $186.81 -2.97% Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $264.74 -2.80% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $761.81 -2.74% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $473.88 -2.67%