Stocks finished lower Tuesday, as investors looked to the first of a series of job market data releases could stoke inflation and test the market's early January rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 178.20 points, or 0.42%, to end the session at 42,528.36, while the S&P 500 gave up 1.11% to close at 5,909.03 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.89% to finish the day at 19,489.68.
AI chipmaking giant Nvidia led the tech retreat, dropping 6.2% after reaching a record.
Updated at 1:11 PM EST
Buy American
The Treasury sold $39 billion in re-opened 10-year notes at a high yield of 4.680% Tuesday in a nervy auction that included another disappointing level of participation from non-U.S. buyers.
Investors placed bids worth around $98.7 billion for the paper on offer, effectively matching the average bid-to-cover ratio of the past six auctions.
Foreign investors, meanwhile, took down around 61.4% of the sale, a notable decline from the six-auction average of around 69% in a move that matched the tenor of yesterday's 3-year sale.
Stocks were little-changed in the wake of the auction results, with the S&P 500 last marked 35 points lower on the session and the Nasdaq down 258 points.
$SPY $TLT | U.S. 🇺🇸 10-Year Treasury Auction Results:
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) January 7, 2025
— High Yield: 4.680% vs WI: 4.678%
— Bid-to-Cover: 2.53x (prev: 2.70x)
— Directs Accepted: 23.0% (prev: 19.5%)
— Indirects Accepted: 61.4% (prev: 70.0%)
— Dealers' Takedown: 15.6% (6M avg: 13.1%)
— Tail: +0.2bps (6M avg:…
Updated at 12:28 PM EST
Tech bonded
Nvidia is leading tech stocks lower into the mid-day session, falling around 5.5% to $141.44 each amid a sharp jump in Treasury bond yields and an underwhelming set of updates from CEO Jensen Huang at yesterday's CES 2025 event in Las Vegas.
The Nasdaq was last marked 1.5% lower on the day, with the S&P 500 down 44 points, or 074% and the Dow off 45 points.
Benchmark 10-year Treasuries were last trading at 4.679% heading into the early afternoon auction while the dollar index rose 0.13% to 108.408.
NVIDIA is on the road again at the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, which runs from Monday, January 13, through the following Thursday.$NVDA #Jensen @WallStHorizon @optionrats https://t.co/eAWGEGl4uF pic.twitter.com/l6YYPhA0sV
— Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT 🍖 (@MikeZaccardi) January 7, 2025
Updated at 10:09 AM EST
Jolted!
The number of unfilled jobs in the U.S. economy spiked to 8.01 million in November, according to the Labor Department's job openings and labor turnover report, suggesting solid momentum into the final weeks of the year.
The JOLTS report tally was up more than 400,000 from the October reading and well ahead of the Street's 7.84 million forecast.
The Institute for Supply Management, meanwhile, posted its final reading of service sector activity over the month of December, which was not only stronger-than-expected, but also included the biggest gain in "price paid' by suppliers since February of 2023.
The data lifted benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields rose 4 basis point to 4.679% in the wake of the data release, while the S&P 500 gave back earlier gains to fall 15 points, or 0.25% on the session.
If you could only focus on one chart/input this year, then it would probably have to be the 10 year yield: pic.twitter.com/oWpzsvhxcv
— 50 (@50Pips) January 7, 2025
Updated at 9:37 AM EST
Good memory
The S&P 500 was marked 18 points, or 0.31% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq rising 21 points or 0.11%.
The Dow gained 164 points while the mid-cap Russell 2000 added 14 points, or 0.31%
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Jan 07, 2025)$SPY +0.37%🟩$QQQ +0.22%🟩$DJI +0.41%🟩$IWM +0.61%🟩 pic.twitter.com/x5SJaSsnjb
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) January 7, 2025
Updated at 8:45 AM EST
Good memory
Micron Technology (MU) shares are a notable premarket mover after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang named-dropped the memory chip maker as a key supplier to its new line of AI-powered gaming GPUs.
Huang's keynote address to CES 2025 in Las Vegas also noted that Micron will provide memory for its new AI-powered personal computer, which is expected to launch later in the spring.
Micron shares were last marked 3.8% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $103.05 each.
Related: Micron stock leaps following Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's CES reveal
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended firmly higher on Monday, with megacap tech names and a fresh record high for Nvidia (NVDA) once again pacing gains and lifting the S&P 500 to a 0.55% advance by the close of trading.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, jumped 1.24% as the tech sector continues to dominate investor sentiment while stoking worries of an overreliance on the so-called Magnificent 7.
Nvidia shares, as well as the broader semiconductor space, are likely to be back in focus today following a keynote address by Chief Executive Jensen Huang to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night.
Shutterstock
Huang unveiled new gaming chips, an AI-powered laptop and plans to infuse the new technology across a broad range of industrial segments.
Shares in the tech giant were last marked 1.6% higher in premarket trading.
The Labor Department will release its November job openings report later this morning, the first of four data releases over the week that conclude with Friday's December nonfarm-payrolls update.
Economists are expecting to see a modest uptick in unfilled positions over the month, with a headline tally of 7.73 million, but are likely to focus on the so-called quits rate to determine labor-market momentum into the final weeks of last year.
Related: Bonds hold the keys to what's next for stocks
Bond markets will also be in focus with the sale of $39 billion in reopened 10-year notes later this morning. The sale follows on from last night's mixed auction of 3-year paper, which drew solid domestic demand but a lag in interest from foreign bidders.
Benchmark 10-year note yields were little changed at 4.642% heading into the start of the New York trading session, with 2-year notes easing back to 4.274%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.26% lower at 107.972. The euro popped modestly higher following a faster-than-expected reading for December inflation across the eurozone area.
Related: Stocks face correction risk as Santa Claus Rally fails to deliver
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied the S&P 500 are indicating a modest 6-point opening-bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for a 45-point bump.
The tech-focused Nasdaq is called 17 points higher with Nvidia, Micron Technology (MU) , Plug Power (PLUG) and Tesla (TSLA) active in premarket trading.
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In overseas markets, the regional Stoxx 600 benchmark nudged 0.15% higher in Frankfurt while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.21% in midday London trading.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 followed last night's rally on Wall Street with a solid 1.97% gain, helped in part by a weaker yen and rising chip stocks. The regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark rose 0.19% into the close of trading.
Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025
