Major US stock indexes were mixed during the holiday-shortened week, although broad gains on Friday helped indexes finish off their worst levels. On the macro side, the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Monday came in at 36.9 in December, falling short of consensus expectations of 42.9. December marked the 13th consecutive month of contracting activity and the steepest month-over-month drop since May. Stocks also fell on Thursday, the first trading day of the new year, partially in response to the Atlanta Fed’s downward revision to its Q4 GDP forecast, from 3.1% to 2.6%. In more positive news, the Labor Department reported initial jobless claims of 211,000 for the week ended December 28. US Treasury yields were all lower on the week with the long-end underperforming. The dollar rallied for a 5th straight week (and 13th week of the last 14) to close at its strongest vs its fiat peers since November 2022. This was the best week for Bitcoin since Thanksgiving, rallying back up to just shy of $99,000. Gold also ignored dollar strength and rallied to its best week since Thanksgiving. Crude oil was up 5 days in a row, back above technical levels to its highest in almost three months. In Europe, the STOXX Europe 600 Index ended 0.20% higher on thin trading volume and light news flow. Chinese stocks retreated as weaker-than-expected manufacturing data hurt investor sentiment. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 5.55%, while the blue-chip CSI 300 fell 5.17%.
Happy new year!