US Market slides on profit booking

The US stock market finished penultimate session of calendar year lower on Monday, 30 December 2019, as investors booked profits from gains made this month on optimism over an initial trade pact with China. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 183.12 points, or 0.64%, to 28,462.14, while the S&P 500 index slipped 18.73 points, or 0.58%, to 3,221.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 60.62 points, or 0.67%, to close at 8,945.99.

With just one trading day left in 2019, the Dow is on track for a full-year gain of 22%, while the S&P 500 was up 28.5% so far this year. The Nasdaq Composite jumped nearly 36%.

Investors took off some risk on the second-to-last pre-holiday trading day after U.S. equities have enjoyed a strong rally in December, with the main indexes hitting record highs last week amid year-end optimism. With major central banks on hold and U.S.-China trade tensions easing, some traders don't see much room for risk markets to push higher.

Market sentiment has been boosted by the easing tensions over U.S.-China trade relations. The world's two largest economies agreed earlier this month to a so-called phase one trade deal. As per reports, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the nation's top trade negotiator, will visit Washington this week to sign the agreement. The Chinese delegation will stay in the U.S. for a few days until the middle of next week. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told on Monday that the signing will likely happen within next week or so with both sides waiting for the translation.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Pending Home Sales Rebound Significantly In November- US pending home sales index jumped 1.2% to 108.5 in November after falling by a revised 1.3% in October, a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday showed. A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Chicago MNI Business Activity Continues To Contract In December- Chicago-area business activity continued to contract in the month of December, according to a report released by MNI Indicators on Monday, although the pace of contraction slowed from the previous month. MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer climbed to 48.9 in December from 46.3, but a reading below 50 still indicates a contraction in regional business activity. The increase by the business barometer was partly due to a jump by the production, which surged up to a four-month high of 47.2. On the other hand, the report said the new orders index edged down to 49.1 in December, while the employment index fell to 47.4. MNI Indicators said prices at the factory gate jumped 9.2% to 58.4 in December, hitting the highest level since August.

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