The New York Stock Exchange started off with a decline. The large-cap benchmark Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 index reached an all-time high three trading days in a row shortly after the opening but soon turned lower as profit-taking sales emerged.
As of 10:30 a.m. on the 24th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a group of blue-chip stocks, was recorded at 44,469.92, down 95.15 points (0.21%) from the previous session.
The S&P 500 index fell 3.56 points (0.06%) to 6,115.15, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 15.47 points (0.08%) to 20,038.20. The three major indices closed higher for four consecutive trading days the previous day. After starting off mixed early in the session, stock prices rose after President Trump emphasized the need for currency policy easing during an international stage comeback speech. The S&P 500 index set a new all-time intraday high and broke its closing record.
The preliminary January S&P Global U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 52.8, marking the lowest level in nine months. In contrast, the preliminary manufacturing PMI recorded 50.2, the highest level in six months. The National Association of Realtors reported a 2.2% increase in existing home sales for December compared to the previous month, continuing its recovery.
President Trump noted in an interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity the previous day that his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping was "a friendly dialogue," saying, "Tariffs have tremendous power to overwhelm China, but I hope this is not used as a tool to establish fair trade practices." In response, Chinese foreign authorities said, "U.S.-China trade cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win."
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (1 basis point = 0.01%), bringing short-term rates to their highest levels in 17 years, but concerns about signs of "CARRY unwinding" were not significantly evident.
On this day, Denmark-based pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced positive early clinical results for its new obesity treatment drug amicretin, causing its stock price to surge over 7%. Cloud-based software company Twilio, which counts Netflix and Airbnb among its clients, saw its stock rise by more than 21% after presenting an optimistic long-term outlook at an investor event held after the market close the previous day. Despite a strong performance in Q4, large semiconductor corporation Texas Instruments saw its stock drop by more than 5% as the outlook for the current quarter fell short of market expectations.
Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, saw its stock drop by less than 1% amid concerns over reporting a loss ahead of next week's earnings announcement. Boeing is estimated to have recorded a loss of $5.46 per share in the fourth quarter due to the impact of large-scale strikes and layoffs, significantly exceeding the market experts' expected loss of $1.55.
Intuitive Surgical, which develops medical equipment including surgical robots, saw its stock surge to an all-time high of $616 the previous day before a disappointing margin guidance released that day caused it to fall by more than 5%.
Financial services corporation American Express reported fourth-quarter results exceeding market expectations along with a plan to increase dividends, yet received comments that the exceeded expectations were not significant, causing its stock to drop by about 3%. Tesla announced that it would launch the new Model Y, equipped with fully autonomous driving (FSD) software, in March, leading to a rise of less than 1% in its stock price.
Among the large tech stock group "Magnificent 7," Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Tesla, and Meta (the parent company of Facebook) began the day on an upward trend, while Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon started off lower. Nvidia had the largest drop of over 1%.
Meanwhile, European stock markets are also showing a downward trend. The German DAX index fell by 0.22%, the British FTSE index decreased by 0.76%, and the STOXX 600 dropped by 0.15%.
International oil prices are mixed. The price of the March West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract, the nearest delivery, is trading at $74.54 per barrel, down 0.11% from the previous session, while the March Brent crude contract, the global benchmark, is trading at $78.39 per barrel, up 0.13%.