Dow, S&P 500 give back ground, but Nasdaq moves modestly higher

US Markets remain cautiously positioned amid geopolitical developments, upcoming Supreme Court tariff decisions, and the early stages of Q4 earnings season.

American stocks fluctuated throughout the trading day on Wednesday before ending the relatively lacklustre session mixed.

Energy stocks declined sharply, with Exxon Mobil falling 3% and Chevron dropping 4%, after oil prices retreated following Trump’s announcement that Venezuela would provide up to 50 million barrels to the US at market prices.

Housing stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 2.6 per cent.

Semiconductor stocks steadied after explosive gains yesterday, with SanDisk surging nearly 28% after AI-optimised storage breakthroughs.

Precious metals faced profit-taking ahead of commodity index rebalancing.

ADP’s December employment data showed 41,000 jobs added, slightly missing expectations. Economists had expected private-sector employment to increase by 47,000 jobs, compared with the 32,000 job loss originally reported for the previous month.

Asian equity markets showed mixed performance, with moderate declines in major indices amid cautious sentiment. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1%.

Nifty extended its losing streak to a third straight session yesterday, slipping 37 points to settle at 26,140, but managing to close off the day’s low.

Despite the short-term softness, the broader positional trend remains bullish, supported by a pattern of higher tops and higher bottoms on the daily charts.

On the upside, the recent swing high at 26,373 is likely to act as an immediate resistance level, while 26,000 is expected to provide strong near-term support.

Indian markets are poised to open modestly lower on the back of weak Asian cues.

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Source: HDFC Securities Prime Research