It was a rough day for US stock markets, with benchmark indexes falling and set to end 2022 as the worst year since the financial crisis. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% to 10,387.2, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7% to 32,989.1, and the S&P 500 was 0.9% lower at 3,820.5.
Losses were seen across a variety of sectors, including materials, technology, and healthcare. The US 10-year yield also rose significantly, jumping 5.1 basis points to 3.89%, while the two-year rate advanced 6.5 basis points to 4.43%.
The Institute for Supply Management’s Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index indicated that factory activity in the region contracted in December, with a reading of 44.9, up from 37.2 in November but still below the 50 mark that indicates expansion. Other regional manufacturing data released for December have also shown slowed activity in the factory sector, and the national ISM manufacturing index is set to be released on January 4th.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, there was a significant drop in activity in the second half of 2022, with $1.4 trillion worth of deals announced compared to the $2.2 trillion agreed in the first half of the year. This is the largest six-month swing since tracking began in 1980, according to a note from D.A. Davidson.
The US dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, dropping 0.9% to 131.79, and crude oil futures rose slightly, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil increasing 0.6% to $78.91.
In company news, Kala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KALA) saw its shares rise 34% intraday after announcing that the US Food and Drug Administration had accepted its investigational new drug application for the KPI-012 product candidate. The company’s shares had already doubled on both Wednesday and Thursday.
