After the sharp stance of US Federal Reserve Last week, investors on Wall Street faced a largely uneventful economic calendar heading into the upcoming holiday week.
Markets will remain closed on Wednesday due to Christmas holiday, while the trading session will be short on Tuesday.
As the year 2024 comes to an end, investors will be hoping for a Santa Claus rally. This phenomenon occurs when stocks rise in the last five trading sessions of December and the first two trading sessions of January.
The US Federal Reserve cut its interest rates by 25 basis points, but softened its forward guidance for 2025.
The threat of higher inflation was one of the reasons Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave last week when the central bank hinted it may cut rates by 2025 by a lower rate than previously thought.
economic calendar
A report on consumer confidence for December will be released on December 23 (Monday).
Separate reports on durable goods orders for November and new home sales in November will be released on December 24 (Tuesday).
Initial jobless claims data for the week ending December 21 will be released on December 26 (Thursday).
On December 27 (Friday), separate reports will be released on the advanced US trade balance in goods for November and advanced retail inventories for November.
last week market
US stock indices rose on Friday due to better-than-expected inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 498.82 points, or 1.18 percent, to 42,841.06, the S&P 500 rose 63.82 points, or 1.09 percent, to 5,930.90 and the Nasdaq Composite added 199.83 points, or 1.03 percent, to 19,572.60.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 1.99 percent, the Nasdaq fell 1.78 percent, and the Dow fell 2.25 percent.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.52 percent from 4.57 percent.
crude oil Weekly losses were recorded as investors weighed the Fed’s slow approach to cutting rates and President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on EU countries unless they buy more US oil and gas.
Brent futures closed little changed near $73 a barrel, registering a decline of 2.1 percent for the week. West Texas Intermediate held steady above $69 a barrel, with the February contract down 1.9 percent.
