By Daniel Shvartsman
Investing.com -- Stock markets reversed early gains, getting off to a down note to start the last week of trading in 2022.
The S&P 500 lost .5% as of 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT) in Tuesday trading, at 3825. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading about flat, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2%. The Russell 2000 was down only .15% in early trading.
The Nasdaq has been the big loser on the year, a switch from its post Great Financial Crisis outperformance, and it could be that tax-loss selling and momentum is dragging it down further. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is a (large) microcosm of that effect, as the electric vehicle maker was down 6.6% in early trading, amid news that it was reducing production at its Shanghai plant. This would mark the 14th down day in 16 for the market leader, and a drop of over 40% for the month of December if prices hold. Nio (NYSE:NIO) was down 6.8% after its own underwhelming Investor Day and delivery guidance cut.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) dropped 5.4% amid heavy flight cancellations due to rough weather in the U.S. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 1.4% even as JPMorgan reported that supply times for the iPhone are improving.
Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) rose 5.5% and 4% respectively amid news that China was reducing requirements on inbound travelers to the country, dropping a mandatory quarantine period for just a negative PCR test. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) (+5.6%), JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) (+5.6%) and Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD) (+4.4%) also rode this wave higher.
Crude Oil WTI Futures rose 1.4% and Brent Oil Futures 1.1%, perhaps also on the back of the China news. Natural gas was up 2.2% as the impact from that heavy weather across the U.S. was still being assessed.
The US Dollar Index dipped .2% in Tuesday trading, with the EUR/USD gaining .1% and gold riding up 1.3% to continue a hot streak. Bitcoin was unable to make much hay out of that dollar weakness, trading more or less flat on the day at $16,823.
United States 10-Year treasuries traded up 1.45% to 3.802%.
Read also: Top Wall Street strategists give their S&P 500 forecasts for 2023