Donald Trump, the U.S. President-elect, visited the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the 12th and rang the opening bell. On the same day (local time), the three major stock indices of the New York Stock Exchange closed lower. The number of new unemployment insurance claims was higher than expected, and the U.S. wholesale prices showed the steepest rise in two years, causing inflation concerns that negatively impacted stock prices.
On the 12th (Eastern U.S. Time) at the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 43,914.12, down 234.44 points (0.53%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 index fell by 32.94 points (0.54%) to 6,051.25, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined by 132.05 points (0.66%) to end at 19,902.84.
This day’s decline in the three major indices is attributed to the higher-than-expected U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for November, which pressured investor sentiment. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the November PPI rose by 3% year-on-year (seasonally unadjusted), marking the steepest annual increase since the 4.7% rise in February 2023, exceeding the market’s expectation of a 2.6% increase. It also rose by 0.4% from the previous month, surpassing the market’s forecast of a 0.2% increase.
The higher-than-expected increase in the U.S. weekly new unemployment insurance claims also heightened concerns about employment and economic slowdown. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of people who newly filed for unemployment insurance for the week ending December 7th was seasonally adjusted to 242,000, marking the highest level in two months since the week of October 6-12.
Among the ‘Magnificent 7 (M7),’ referring to seven major tech companies, all except Apple and Nvidia declined. Tesla and Alphabet, which had recently shown strength, fell by more than 1%, and Nvidia also dropped by over 1% following news that Google used its own developed semiconductor in its AI service ‘Gemini.’
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the U.S. President-elect, participated in a bell-ringing event at the NYSE to announce the market’s opening and stated, “I will build an economy like no one has ever seen,” adding, “Everyone will come back to America.”