US: Stocks tumble towards year-end

WALL Street stocks fell to close Monday’s trading session, heading into the end of the year on a gloomy note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.0 per cent to 42,573.73, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 1.1 per cent to 5,906.94.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 1.2 per cent to 19,486.79.

But there was no major catalyst behind the shift, noted Sam Stovall of CFRA, adding that the lead-up to New Year’s Day was typically a low-volume period.

“I think it simply was end-of-year window dressing,” he said.

Looking ahead, he expected that investors would be closely eyeing data that could give the US Federal Reserve reason to hold back on rate cuts, such as consumer inflation readings.

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While markets have already reacted to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory at the polls, investors are also monitoring further details of his trade policy - after his threats of sweeping new tariffs on imports.

Some major tech stocks slumped on Monday, with Tesla shares dropping 3.3 per cent and Facebook parent Meta losing 1.4 per cent. AFP