New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 19, 2021.
Wang Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images
- US stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with the S&P notching a new high while the Nasdaq slipped.
- Activity in the manufacturing sector grew in December, though less than forecast, according to the ISM report.
- At the same time, a record 4.5 million Americans quit in November, according to the latest JOLTS release.
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US stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a new high while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled.
The Dow gained more than 200 points to notch a new record close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged lower by more than 1% by Zoom and Tesla.
The second trading day of 2022 officially marks the end of the so-called Santa Claus rally in the stock market.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Tuesday:
- S&P 500: 4,793.54, 0.06%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,799.65, up 0.59% (214.59 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,622.72, down 1.33%
Data released on Tuesday showed contrasting glimpses of the health of the US economy.
Activity in the manufacturing sector grew in December, though less than forecast, according to the latest Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report. At the same time, a record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Risk appetite fizzled out after both a softer-than-expected ISM manufacturing report and JOLTS job openings suggested wages will have to rise,” Edward Moya, senior equity analyst at Oanda, said in a Tuesday note.
He added that the so-called Great Resignation is making the Federal Reserve’s goal of recovering the jobs lost during the course of the pandemic complicated.
As such, investors will be keeping their eye out for the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which is scheduled for release Wednesday. Markets expect the Fed to start hiking in either March or May.
Still, Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel believes US stocks will continue to rise in 2022 even as the Fed hikes interest rates to around 2% to stamp down on inflation.
Jumping off of 2021’s impressive 27% gain, the S&P 500 continues to trend higher to kick off 2022 despite a record number of new COVID-19 cases. On Monday, reported daily cases in the US exceeded 1 million for the first time due in part to the more contagious Omicron variant.
In the US, researchers at Columbia University estimated that the country could see infections peak by January 9.
The 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 1.659% from Monday’s 1.628% as investors flocked towards stocks and bet on tighter monetary policy from the Fed this year. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Oil prices jumped after OPEC and its non-member allies agreed, as expected, to modestly increase oil production in February by an additional 400,000 barrels a day next.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 1.45% to $77.18 per barrel. Brent crude, oil’s international benchmark, rose as much as 1.47% to $80.14 per barrel.
Gold rose 0.56% to $1,814.04 per ounce.
Read the original article on Business Insider 
