OP Wire 12/27 (OP – Lite)

By Steve

OP Wire: Market Update and Key Highlights for Today

U.S. Stock Futures Decline Amid Holiday-Shortened Week
U.S. stock index futures dipped in premarket trading Friday following a muted session on Thursday. Investors navigated soft trading volumes in this holiday-shortened week, while tech stocks struggled under the pressure of rising Treasury yields.

S&P 500 Futures: Down 0.3%, trading at 6,018.40
Nasdaq 100 Futures: Declined 0.4% to 21,693.60 points
Dow Jones Futures: Dropped 0.3% to 43,216.0

Wall Street Struggles as Tech Faces Pressure from Rising Yields

Tech stocks faced a headwind on Thursday as 10-year Treasury yields climbed to 4.64%, their highest since May, before settling at 4.59%. Rising yields increase borrowing costs and draw capital away from equities, particularly growth-heavy sectors like tech.

Tesla Inc. (TSLA): Fell 1.8%
NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA): Dropped 0.2%
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Slipped, alongside other tech names

While the S&P 500 ended the day flat at 6,037.59, the NASDAQ Composite edged 0.1% lower to 20,020.36, and the Dow Jones rose 0.1% to 43,325.80.

Jobless Claims Provide Mixed Signals

Thursday’s jobless claims data offered conflicting indicators about the U.S. labor market:

Initial Jobless Claims: Fell by 1,000 to 219,000 (a one-month low), below economists’ expectations of 224,000.
Continuing Claims: Increased by 46,000 to 1.91 million, the highest level since November 2021, signaling potential weakness in hiring trends.

These figures support the Fed’s cautious stance as it monitors labor market dynamics.

Bitcoin Slips Amid Soft Year-End Trading

Bitcoin continued its decline, falling 2.1% to $96,403.7 as of early Friday. This follows Thursday’s market reaction to a TradingView chart anomaly, which erroneously reported Bitcoin dominance dropping to 0%.

The error caused sudden trading activity, resulting in:

Bitcoin Long Liquidations: $33 million in positions wiped out in four hours (per CoinGlass).
Year-End Sentiment: Investors remain cautious after the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone last week.

Cathie Wood Backs Trump’s Economic Agenda

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has voiced strong support for Donald Trump’s incoming administration, urging backdated corporate and personal tax cuts to spur economic growth.

ARKK Fund Performance: Up 17% since Trump’s victory
Top Holdings Gains:
- Tesla (TSLA): +54%
- Coinbase (COIN): +7%
Outlook: Wood expects Trump’s crypto and AI-friendly policies to boost companies like Robinhood and Block.

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