NEW YORK: US stocks fell on the first day of trading in 2024, as investors pulled back and cashed their profits after a strong rally at the end of last year.
“The market was way overdue for a nice pullback,” Adam Sarhan from 50 Park Investments told AFP.
“Markets don’t go straight up,” he said. “So this consolidation after a big run, it’s part of the process.”
Wall Street loses steam on last day of upbeat 2023
Around 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent lower at 37,618.03.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.7 percent to 4,736.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.5 percent to 14,792.74.
“We’re seeing some profit taking, as investors start a new year,” said Sarhan. He added that “a lot of people wait for the new year to sell for tax reasons.”
Among individual stocks, car maker Tesla was trading more than 1.2 percent lower after losing its crown as the world’s top EV producer to Chinese manufacturer BYD.
And tech giant Apple’s shares were down more than 3.3 percent after a downgrade from Barclays.
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