Stocks are closing lower on Tuesday afternoon after the long holiday weekend, adding to recent market losses as Wall Street counts down the final days of a painful year for investors. A drop in technology companies, automakers and airlines weighed on the market, offsetting gains in energy stocks and other sectors. News that China has lifted some of its COVID-19 restrictions helped buoy stocks early on. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.4%.
THIS IS A LAST MINUTE UPDATE. Previous AP story appears below.
Stocks were mostly down Tuesday afternoon after the long holiday weekend, adding to recent market losses as Wall Street counts down the final days of a painful year for investors.
The S&P 500 was down 0.2% at 3:39 p.m. ET, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.1%. Both indices are coming off their third straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 88 points, or 0.3%, to 33,292.
Technology stocks, automakers and communication services companies accounted for a large part of the declines in the S&P 500. Apple fell 1.1%, Ford slid 1.2% and Netflix fell 3, 1%.
Airline stocks fell across the board after a massive winter storm it caused widespread delays and forced several airlines to cancel flights over the weekend. Delta Air Lines fell 1.1%, American Airlines fell 1.6% and JetBlue was down 1.5%.
Southwest Airlines fell 6.5% after the company had to cancel roughly two-thirds of its flights in recent days, which it blamed on staffing and weather-related issues. The federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers.
Energy stocks were the biggest gainers among S&P 500 companies. Hess added 1.1%.
Treasury yields rose mainly as the US bond market reopened. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.85% from 3.75% on Friday.
Trading on Wall Street is expected to be relatively light this holiday-shortened week as investors look to 2023 after a dismal year for stocks.
Uncertainty about how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks would go to combat the highest inflation in decades has kept investors on edge. The Fed has raised its key interest rate seven times this year and has signaled further increases in 2023, even as the pace of price increases has been moderating.
The high rates, which weigh heavily on stock prices and other investments, have fueled concerns that the economy could slow too much and slide into recession next year.
The benchmark S&P 500 index set an all-time high in early January but is now down nearly 20% year-to-date. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down nearly 34%.
In other parts of the world, stocks were mostly up on Tuesday after China announced it was easing. more of their pandemic restrictions despite widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 that are straining their medical systems and stop business.
China’s National Health Commission said on Monday that passengers arriving from abroad will no longer have to observe a quarantine from January 8. They will still need a negative virus test within 48 hours of their departure and wear masks on their flights.
But it was the latest step to remove once-stringent virus control measures that have severely limited travel to and from the world’s No. 2 economy.
“With economic activity faltering and multinationals questioning the viability of China as a sourcing location, policymakers, as so often in the past, have taken a very businesslike approach,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Businesses welcomed the move as an important step towards the reactivation of business activity in crisis.
China has joined other countries in treating cases rather than trying to stamp out infections. It has removed or eased rules on testing, quarantine and movement, trying to reverse an economic downturn. But the change has flooded hospitals with feverish and wheezing patients, and authorities are going door-to-door, paying people over 60. to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1% to 3,096.57. Hong Kong markets were closed for holidays, as were those in Australia.
