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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: US indices fall for 4th straight session Wed, S&P 500 down 1%

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--US equity indices closed lower for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, defying expectations of a 'Santa Claus rally'. Over the last four sessions, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 1%, and the tech-laden NASDAQ Composite was down nearly 2%. Equity markets in Asia were closed on Thursday on account of New Year's Day.  

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to achieve gains on a monthly basis, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite fell nominally, according to a report by Reuters. However, the three indices have recorded double-digit gains in 2025, making it the third consecutive year of gains, boosted by an 'insatiable appetite' for artificial intelligence stocks, Reuters reported. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index recorded eight consecutive months of gains, its longest streak since 2017-2018. The S&P 500 was also on track for eight consecutive months of growth just before the closing bell but could not manage to do so, ending slightly lower in December, the report said. 

 

Energy stocks and technology stocks were among the worst performers during the session, with Microsoft falling 0.8%, Reuters said. Shares of energy company EQT Corp. fell nearly 2% during the session as well. Shares of NVIDIA, which have gained 39% this year, have been one of the beneficiaries of AI trade, becoming the first company to hit $5-trillion market capitalisation, Reuters said. Shares of NVIDIA ended nearly 1% lower during the session. 

 

The communication services index was the highest gainer for the year due to a 65% rise in Alphabet, Reuters said. Shares of storage chip-makers Micron Technology, Western Digital, and Seagate exceeded their S&P 500 peers as they tripled in value in 2025. Nike rose 4?ter CEO Elliott Hill reported that he bought about $1 million worth of shares recently. Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals surged after the company received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its drug meant for the prevention of motion-induced vomiting, Reuters said. Shares of the company jumped over 25% during the trading session. 

 

Trading volumes remained low in the holiday-truncated week, with the market closed for New Year on Thursday. "Volume on US exchanges was 11.17 billion shares, compared with the 15.80 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days," Reuters said. The monteary policy of the US Federal Reserve is likely to set the tone for 2026. Investors have started pricing in further reductions after recent economic data and expectations of a new 'dovish' Federal Reserve chairman, Reuters said.       

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Wednesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6845.50	(-)0.74
NASDAQ Composite	23241.991	(-)0.76
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48063.29	(-)0.63

 

(Akshat Saksena)

 

US$1 = INR 89.87

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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