U.S. stocks suffer third straight session of declines Friday as services sectors output falls to a four-month low

MARKETS TODAY Dec 16 (Vica Partners) – U.S. stocks suffer a third straight session of declines on Friday as both manufacturers and service providers reported steeper decreases in output, as weaker demand conditions, inflation and interest rate increases hit economic activity.

The top performing sector today was Communication Services, declining 0.24% and the hardest hit was Real Estate, falling -2.36%.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) declined 1.11%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped by 0.85%, or 281 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined by 0.97%.

Key Market Statistics   

  • S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all down today
  • Top performing sector today was Communication Services, declining 0.24%
  • Real Estate and the Utilities sector were the biggest laggards, down 2.36% and 1.74%
  • Greed Index today was 42 (fear)
  • 10-year Treasury yield up at 3.488%, the 2 year Treasury yield down at 4.191%
  • US. Dollar Index (DXY) to $104.78, up 0.22%
  • Bitcoin fell to $16,847.00 down 2.95% and Gold to $1793.22, up 0.93%
  • Oil prices declined, Brent crude to $79.06, declining 2.65% and US West Texas Intermediate to $74.31, declining 2.36%

The U.S. economy contracted in December for the sixth consecutive month pointing to weakening economic activity as manufacturers saw one of the sharpest declines in new orders since the 2008.

The S&P Global Flash Composite Output Index, which gauges activity in the manufacturing and services sectors saw some of the sharpest declines in new orders since the 2008-09. The index declined to 44.6 in December from 46.4 in November, and below the 46.5 consensus economist’s estimates. An index below 50 signals economic activity contracted

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