U.S. stocks rebounded from earlier losses on Thursday to end the session largely flat after a new reading of December inflation came in slightly higher than economists expected, raising new questions about the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC), which fell as much as 0.8% during the session, closed just below the zero line. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) were slightly above breakeven.
Rate-sensitive sectors lagged the most, with real estate and utility stocks ending the session in the red.
Stocks struggled this week as investors counted down to December's U.S. consumer inflation. This reading showed a slightly larger increase than expected as prices rose 0.3% month-on-month and 3.4% year-on-year. On a “core” basis that excludes the volatile food and energy categories, inflation rose 3.9% last year.
The pressure was seen as critical for traders, who have increasingly priced in the likelihood of a “soft landing” – where inflation falls to 2% without causing an economic downturn – since the last CPI report.
Meanwhile, US spot Bitcoin ETFs (full list here) began trading on Thursday following regulatory approval from the SEC on Wednesday.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) held above $46,000 per token, while rival Ether (ETH-USD) jumped on bets that the second-largest token would be next to get the ETF greenlight.
Ahead of Friday's quarterly financial update, Citigroup (C) said it would record more than $3 billion in one-time reserves and expenses in its results. Fourth-quarter earnings season is crucial for stocks given their dismal performance so far this year.
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Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 9:04 p.m. GMTStocks are recovering losses after a hotter-than-expected consumer price index
U.S. stocks erased losses on Thursday and ended the session flat after a new reading of December inflation came in slightly higher than expected, raising new questions about the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed just 3 points lower after approaching a new high in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 15 points and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) closed flat.
Rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and utilities lagged during Thursday's session. Technology has made its way into green territory. Energy stocks also closed slightly higher.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks fell in afternoon trading, erasing earlier gains on the first day of trading for 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
- Thu, January 11, 2024 at 8:30 p.m. GMT
Hertz offers 20,000 electric vehicles for sale, inventory is falling
Hertz (HTZ) shares fell as much as 4% on Thursday after the car rental company said it had begun selling about 20,000 electric vehicles, or about a third of its electric vehicle fleet.
The proceeds from the sale will go toward the purchase of gas-powered vehicles “to meet customer demand.”
The company said part of the reason for moving away from electric vehicles is maintenance costs.
Hertz said that “costs related to collisions and damage, particularly related to electric vehicles, remained high in the most recent quarter.”
Hertz also said it expects depreciation expense of about $245 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 resulting from electric vehicle sales.
The company had plans to electrify its rental car fleet with an order of 100,000 Tesla (TSLA) Model 3 sedans by 2022 and 65,000 Polestar (PSNY) vehicles over five years.
On Thursday, Hertz announced that it will implement a series of initiatives to improve the profitability of its remaining electric vehicle fleet.
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 8:15 p.m. GMT
Oil pares gains but settles higher amid tensions in the Middle East
Oil futures closed at their session highs on Thursday.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F), up more than 3%, settled down about 1% at $72.02 a barrel. Brent futures (BZ=F) gave up most of their earlier gains to close slightly higher at $77.04 a barrel.
Prices jumped on Thursday after Iran said it had seized a tanker carrying Iraqi oil in retaliation for the U.S. seizure of the same ship last year. The incident fueled fears of an escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, U.S. electricity and gasoline prices rose last month, contributing to higher-than-expected inflation in December.
“The energy index increased 0.4% for the month as increases in the electricity index and gasoline index more than offset a decline in the natural gas index,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in its press release.
Electricity prices rose by 1.3% compared to the previous month. The gasoline index rose 0.2% in December after falling 6% in November. However, the BLS found that gasoline prices actually fell 5.8% last month before a seasonal adjustment.
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 7:45 p.m. GMT
Housing costs are still a large contributor to the recent CPI rise, but experts point to hopeful signs
Housing costs again had a big impact on higher-than-expected inflation last month. But as Yahoo Finance's Dani Romero points out, some experts point to hopeful signs in the latest data.
The accommodation component of the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5% month-on-month in December, compared with the 0.4% monthly gain in November.
Year-on-year, accommodation inflation remained high, rising 6.2% compared to last year.
The optimistic attitude? This is lower than the previous year's value of 6.5% in November and the high in March of 8.2%.
Read more here.
- Thu, January 11, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. GMT
Crypto stocks are reversing their gains amid spot Bitcoin ETF trading
Cryptocurrency-related stocks fell in afternoon trading, erasing earlier gains on the first day of trading for 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Marathon Digital (MARA), the third most popular ticker on Yahoo Finance, was down 14% on Thursday afternoon despite opening the session in the green. Riot Platforms (RIOT) even fell by 16%.
Coinbase (COIN), a top-5 trending ticker on Yahoo Finance, fell more than 5%. Shares were up more than 5% early in the session.
The recently approved ETFs, which readers can track here, allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin (BTC-US) without having to own it.
Bitcoin rose as high as $48,000 on Thursday morning before falling to just over $46,000 by midday.
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 6:15 p.m. GMT
Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as the most valuable company in the world
Microsoft (MSFT) briefly surpassed Apple's (AAPL) market cap during Thursday's session, making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.
As Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley points out, the software giant took the top spot shortly after trading began, generating over $2.8 trillion in revenue.
Apple's market cap was also over $2.8 trillion, but was just behind Microsoft. Apple shares struggled in the first two weeks of the year as analysts at three banks downgraded the company's stock on fears of slowing iPhone demand.
Read more here.
Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 5:46 p.m. GMTStocks down in afternoon trading
Shares fell briefly at 12:45 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.8% after the benchmark ended Wednesday at its highest close since January 2022, just shy of a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped 0.6% and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) led losses, falling nearly 0.9%.
Some interest rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and financials, which had performed well in the recent market rally, fell about 1%. Utilities led the losses, falling more than 2%.
Source: Yahoo Finance
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. GMT
Oil prices rise as tensions rise in the Middle East
Oil futures rose sharply on Thursday after Iran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, stoking fears of an escalation in tensions between the US and Tehran.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) rose more than 3% during the morning session. Brent futures (BZ=F) also rose more than 2.5% and traded above $78 a barrel.
According to Iranian state media, the Iranian military seized the tanker carrying Iraqi oil in retaliation for the US seizure of the same ship last year.
“The geopolitical escalation in the Red Sea region has once again reversed the bearish trend in futures,” Dennis Kissler, senior vice president at BOK Financial, said on Thursday.
Thursday's price action marked a change in direction from the previous session, when futures fell more than 1% following the release of weekly storage data. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.34 million barrels last week.
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 4:03 p.m. GMT
Bitcoin ETFs begin trading
The long-awaited spot Bitcoin ETF trading is underway.
A curated list on Yahoo Finance tracks all the action on the ETFs. Of the newly launched ETFs, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) recorded the highest volume in morning trading.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was trading at around $46,700 during the ETF action.
Below is a breakdown of the different fees associated with each ETF.
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 3:22 p.m. GMT
Inflation is higher than expected, keeping the Fed's rate-cutting bets moving
December's inflation report came in slightly hotter than Wall Street expected, but that doesn't change investors' bets that the Fed's first rate cut could come in March.
As of early Thursday morning, markets were pricing in about a 67% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates in March, largely unchanged from the odds the previous day, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
“I don’t think that’s enough to delay cuts,” Bank of America U.S. economist Stephen Juneau told Yahoo Finance Live. “We are looking for a marching cut that starts the cutting cycle. This leaves the door open. The door will definitely not be slammed.”
- Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 2:37 p.m. GMT
Stocks are rising despite higher-than-expected inflation
U.S. stocks rose Thursday morning despite a new reading of December inflation coming in slightly higher than economists had expected, raising new questions about the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 0.2% after the benchmark ended Wednesday at its highest close since January 2022, narrowly reaching a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way with a gain of 0.3%.
Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 1:47 p.m. GMTInflation is higher than expected in December
Thursday's highly anticipated inflation report showed consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in November.
A quick look at the numbers:
Overall CPI, month over month: 0.3% increase vs. expected 0.2%
Overall CPI YoY: 3.4% vs expected 3.2%
“Core” CPI YoY: 3.9% vs. 3.8% expected
Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer has all the details here.
Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 9:04 p.m. GMT
Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 5:46 p.m. GMT
Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 1:47 p.m. GMTClick here for a detailed analysis of the latest stock market news and events affecting stock prices.
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