S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Set to Open Up; Super Micro, Tesla, Broadcom, More Movers; Treasury Yields Fall

All three indexes are on track for strong yearly gains–the Dow has added just under 5,000 points since Jan. 1, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are both up about 25%.

But they’ve had a tougher time of it in December, with the Dow feeling much of the pain–the blue-chip gauge has shed more than 2,300 points since Dec. 1, putting it on pace for its biggest one-month decline since September 2022.

The market is worried that the Federal Reserve will take a cautious approach to cutting interest rates with Chair Jerome Powell signaling to the market on Dec. 18 that the central bank may only cut borrowing costs twice next year. There’s also a fear that Trump’s tax-and-tariffs agenda could drive up inflation and the already-ballooning U.S. deficit.

The recent selloff has been fueled by investors looking to “pare back positions ahead of the New Year amid uncertainty over monetary policy and the economic outlook under a Trump presidency…with holiday-season volatility and year-end profit-taking amplifying the losses,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman wrote.

Oil was rising on Tuesday after strong manufacturing data out of China reassured traders about the economic health of the Asian country, which is the world’s largest crude importer. The Brent international benchmark climbed 0.6% to $74.43 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate U.S. prices were up 0.6% to $71.44 a barrel.