Wall Street’s three major indexes all retreated on Monday.
This marked a two-day drop in trading sessions since December 27.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have declined for three trading days in a row, starting on December 26.
The downturn was primarily driven by weakness in technology stocks, particularly among the influential M7 large-cap tech companies.
Within the M7 group, only Nvidia managed a modest gain of 0.35%, while the other six all declined.
Meanwhile, Boeing’s shares tumbled 2.3% amid the aftermath of the Jeju Air incident.
Santa Rally Goes Missing
The Santa Rally, typically referring to market gains during the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year, has been absent this season.
Despite a promising start on December 24, the rally disappeared after the Dow’s slight uptick on December 26, giving way to a broader market decline through December 30.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 418.48 points (0.97%) at 42,573.73, while the S&P 500 shed 63.90 points (1.07%), ending at 5,906.94.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 235.25 points (1.19%) to finish at 19,486.78.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), surged 1.46 points (9.15%) to 17.41, continuing its upward trajectory since hitting 14.73 on December 24.
M7 Tech Stocks: Nvidia Stands Alone
The poor performance of technology stocks exacerbated the broader market decline.
Among the M7 stocks, only Nvidia managed to post a modest rebound.
Nvidia’s stock climbed to $140.27 intraday, a 2.4% jump, before settling at $137.49, up $0.48 (0.35%).
In stark contrast, Tesla continued its downward spiral for the third consecutive session since December 26, closing at $417.41, down $14.25 (3.30%).
Tesla’s three-day slide has erased 9.71% of its value, representing a more than 13% drop from its December 17 peak of $479.86. This decline of over 10% from its recent high signals that Tesla has entered into bear market territory.
Crypto-Related Stocks Take a Nosedive
As Bitcoin prices faltered, stocks related to cryptocurrencies suffered significant losses.
MicroStrategy, the software firm holding the largest Bitcoin reserves among publicly traded firms worldwide, plummeted $27.04 (8.19%) to $302.96.
Coinbase Global, the only publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, dropped $10.15 (3.82%) to close at $255.56.
Mara Holdings, a crypto technology development company, fell $1.15 (6.24%) to $17.29.
Oil Prices Climb for Second Straight Day
Global oil prices extended their gains for a second consecutive day following the previous weekend.
This upward movement broke the recent pattern of alternating daily gains and losses.
Natural gas prices surged by over 15% today, contributing to the upward pressure on oil.
Weather forecasting firm Atmospheric G2 predicted below-average temperatures for the eastern United States in January, which drove up natural gas and oil prices.
The international oil benchmark of Brent crude rose $0.22 (0.30%) to settle at $74.39 per barrel for February delivery.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. oil benchmark, also gained $0.39 (0.55%), closing at $70.99 per barrel for February delivery.
