Stocks pulled back on Monday as doubts crept in about the prospects for a US interest rate cut, with the key monthly jobs report on the horizon.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed 0.3%, or roughly 120 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 1.1%, leading the way down.
Stocks rallied last month, lifting the gauges to five weekly wins in a row, as investors stuck with the idea that the Federal Reserve would start cutting rates early next year. Those expectations have also dragged down Treasury yields in recent days, even after Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against talk of an end to rate hikes.
Both stocks and bonds are now in retreat on Wall Street as a growing chorus of analysts warn that the rally in those assets is overdone. The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) was up 6 basis points to about 4.28%.
The November jobs report, scheduled for release Friday, could also take the wind out of the rally’s sails, depending on whether the data contradicts the notion the Fed is done with hikes. Cooling in the labor market is a key factor in policymakers’ decision making.
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Elsewhere in markets, those Fed pivot hopes helped boost bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices to top $41,000, levels last seen before the 2022 crypto rout. Other digital currencies also gained amid expectations the SEC will greenlight US spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
In individual stocks, Hawaiian (HA) shares skyrocketed about 190% after Alaska Air (ALK) said it will pay close to four times Friday’s closing price to buy the troubled fellow airline. Alaska shares fell about 15%.
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