US Stocks Pause, Gold Rises As Dollar, Treasury Yields Fall: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

The U.S. stock market experienced a quiet day on Wednesday, with major indices showing minimal movement amid typical year-end low volume activity. The S&P 500 hovered around 4,777 points, remaining less than one percentage point from its recent all-time highs.

Tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 paused, while blue-chip and small-cap stocks posted minor gains.

The Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, a measure of the dollar’s performance, fell by 0.6% as Treasury yields continued their downward trend.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 3.82%, reaching a new five-month low. Yields on the longer-dated 30-year Treasuries fell below 4% for the first time since late July.

As yields and the dollar weakened, gold prices, as tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, found support, with the precious metal rising 0.9% to $2,080 per ounce. Bitcoin BTC/USD also showed a positive session, increasing by 1.4% amid optimistic prospects for near-term ETF approval. Ethereum ETH/USD soared over 6%.

Wednesday’s Performance In US Major Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was flat at $475.61, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA was 0.2% higher to $375.93 and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ held steady at $410.75, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Sector-wise, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE continued to outperform, up by 0.5%, buoyed by declining Treasury yields.

Staples and utilities outperformed, with both the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU up 0.9%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE was the laggard, down 0.3%, as oil prices inched 1.5% lower.

Among industries, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX led gains, up 1.7%, while oil services lagged behind, with the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH falling 0.4%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• Tesla Inc. TSLA gained 2.4% amid plans to launch a revamped version of Model Y from its Shanghai plant.
• Crypto-related stocks soared: Coinbase Global Inc. COIN rose 7%, Bit Digital Inc. BTBT rallied 16% and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA was up 12%.
• Apple Inc. AAPL held steady after a U.S. Court of Appeals temporarily halted an import ban imposed by the U.S. International Trade Commission due to patent infringements on certain models of the company’s smartwatches. Masimo Corp. MASI fell 3%.

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