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Crypto stocks drop tracking bitcoin's slide

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U.S. stock markets closed on Jan 9 (Thursday)

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Indexes down: Dow 0.59%, S&P 500 0.61%, Nasdaq 0.61%

(Updates to afternoon)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) -

Wall Street veered lower on Monday in light volume at the

top of a holiday-shortened week in the second-to-last trading

session of an eventful year in which all three indexes posted

strong double-digit gains.

End-of-year tax positioning, valuations, climbing

Treasury yields and uncertainties about 2025 all convinced

investors to sell. The three major U.S. stock indexes bounced

off early lows but still were down more than 0.5%.

The broad selloff dragged 10 of the 11 major S&P 500

sectors into negative territory for the session.

"Investors are saying the S&P, even after this recent sell

off, is up over 50% in the last two years," said Oliver Pursche,

senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, in New York.

"Maybe we should take some chips off the table and protect those

gains. And when you have thin volume, it doesn't take a lot (to

move markets)."

Despite recent weakness, 2024 has been a banner year for

U.S. equities. The Nasdaq is on track for a 29% annual gain and

the S&P 500 is headed for a 23% rise for 2024. The Dow was last

up more than 12% since the last closing levels of 2023.

On the sector level, technology, communication

services and consumer discretionary were on

course to notch gains of nearly 30% or more, while materials

appear poised to nab the dubious distinction of the

only sector to have lost ground on the year.

It was a year during which geopolitical tensions came to a

boil in the Middle East and elsewhere, while the Federal Reserve

cut U.S. interest rates for the first time in over four years.

In U.S. politics, former President Donald Trump was

convicted of 32 felonies early in the year, then won re-election

to a second term after President Joe Biden dropped out of the

race to be replaced as Democratic candidate by Vice President

Kamala Harris.

Chip maker Nvidia's ( NVDA ) stock shot up nearly 180%

this year as investors placed heavy bets on the promise of

emergent artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

"Next year is going to be much more volatile for investors,

in particular in the first quarter," Pursche added. "However, I

do think there's a good chance of stocks doing reasonably well

and having mid-single-digit returns next year."

"The combination of likely lower taxes and a friendlier

regulatory environment is likely to result in stocks rising well

beyond fair valuations," Pursche said, citing investor

expectations that Trump will deliver on his campaign promises.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 251.75 points,

or 0.59%, to 42,741.60, the S&P 500 lost 36.43 points, or

0.61%, to 5,934.41 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 120.13

points, or 0.61%, to 19,601.59.

Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, all but energy

were in negative territory. Consumer discretionary

had the largest percentage loss, falling 1.1%

Boeing ( BA ) shares fell 1.6% after South Korea's acting

president Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection

of its entire airline operation following the deadliest air

accident in that country's history, involving a Boeing ( BA ) 737-800.

Crypto stocks including MicroStrategy Coinbase

and MARA Holdings ( MARA ) tumbled from 3.4% to 4.1%,

tracking bitcoin weakness.

Biden declared a national day of mourning on Thursday Jan. 9

to mark the death on Sunday of former President Jimmy Carter.

The U.S. stock market will be closed that day.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.58-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 41 new highs and 208 new lows on the

NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,657 stocks rose and 2,663 fell as declining

issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.61-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 15 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 51 new highs and 103 new

lows.