Fly On Wall Street

Stocks seek a belated Santa Claus rally – What to know in markets Wednesday

Stocks had a brutal Christmas Eve.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) tumbled into a bear market, closing the session lower by 2.71%, or 65.52 points, and was lower by more than 20% from its September intraday high. The Dow (^DJI) slid 2.91%, or 653.17 points, while the Nasdaq slid 2.21%, or 140.08 points, during Monday’s session.

The S&P 500 is now down 12% for the year-to-date. The Dow is lower by 11.84%, while the Nasdaq is off by 10.29%.

Investors are wrestling with an extended equity sell-off against a backdrop of turbulence in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump blasted the Federal Reserve again on Monday, calling the central bank the “only problem our economy has.”

Several major government agencies are still in a partial shutdown that began over the weekend after Congress failed to pass a funding measure for the departments. The affected agencies include the Treasury, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Interior, State, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Commerce and Justice departments. The Trump administration warned on Sunday that the shutdown could continue into January, when the new Congress takes control.

The U.S. stock market was closed on Tuesday in observance of Christmas.

On Wednesday, data will be released for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. The 20-City Composite Home Price NSA index comprises a value-weighted average of indices for 20 metro areas, including Los Angeles, New York City, Boston and Chicago. Economists expect that the reading will show that property values increased 4.8% in October over last year, versus 5.15% in September.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond will release its monthly Manufacturing Activity Survey results. Consensus expectations are for a reading of 15 for the month of December, from 14 in November.

No major corporate earnings reports are scheduled for release on Wednesday.

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