Wall Street: US stocks slip after strong retail sales data, Nvidia dips 3.5%, Pfizer jumps 4% — Why markets are falling
US stocks slipped on Tuesday, as investors become cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision following strong retail sales data.
The Federal Reserve is slated to announce its final interest rate decision on Wednesday.
At 9:41 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 231.55 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 43,487.22, the S&P 500 lost 28.68 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 6,045.40 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 97.40 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 20,078.88.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61.0 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 43,656.47. The S&P 500 fell 21.5 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 6,052.55, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 78.3 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 20,095.618.
November retail sales
US retail sales rose 0.7 per cent in November amid an acceleration in motor vehicle purchases, from a month earlier, and up from a revised 0.5 per cent in October.
The strong retail sales data indicate that the US economy is on strong footing.
Among individual stocks, Pfizer jumped 4.1 per cent as it projected slightly higher profits in 2025 compared with this year.
AI-chip giant Nvidia fell 3.5 per cent and Amazon.com lost 1.2 per cent.
Broadcom shares fell 3.7 per cent after rallying in the previous session.
Crypto stocks continued their rally as bitcoin surpassed $107,000.
In the bond market, The 10-year Treasury yield edged down to 4.39 per cent from 4.40 per cent late on Monday. The 2-year yield was at 4.25 per cent.
Crude oil
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Chinese economic data renewed demand concerns.
Brent crude futures eased 78 cents to $73.13 a barrel by 1415 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 83 cents at $69.88.
Spot gold was down 0.6 per cent at $2,636.89 per ounce, as of 9:18 am ET (1418 GMT). US gold futures shed 0.7 per cent to $2,650.50.
Spot silver was down 0.7 per cent to $30.30 per ounce.
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2024-12-17 14:54:53