Weekly: Some worries some worries that the market may be losing momentum

The major indexes slightly rebounded from the prior week's sell-off in the holiday-shortened week. A rise in Treasury yields may have pressured equities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose to 4.627% after the rate hit its highest level since May in the previous session.
The small-cap Russell 2000 lost more than 8% since December. The benchmark is now on track for its worst month since September 2022.
Equities saw the biggest outflows the week of Dec.16-Dec. 20 with investors yanking more than $35 billion, the biggest exodus since December 2022, according to data from Bank of America.
U.S. retail sales excluding auto rose 3.8% in Nov. 1-Dec. 24 vs. a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Some 10% of holiday spending came in the last five days. Online shopping grew 6.7% vs. 2.9% for in-person shopping.

All S&P 500 sectors closed the week in green, despite the consumer defensive sector which slightly lost. The technology sector led the rise with semiconductor stocks bullish, AVGO rallied over 10% for the week.
Tesla (TSLA) retreated again after a slight rebound early of the week. The electric-vehicle maker is set to release fourth-quarter deliveries this week. Wall Street expects Tesla to deliver around 510,00 vehicles, a record for any quarter but short of the company’s 515,000 goal. Barclays analysts on Dec. 18 warned that the post-election rally in TSLA shares reflects a "sharp disconnect" between the stock and the company's fundamentals. However, TSLA has gained 74% this year.
The full-stack quantum computing company Rigetti Computing (RGTI) skyrocketed 80% last week, putting the stock record a fresh all-time high. The stock’s moves come amid substantial year-end gains among quantum computing stocks more broadly. RGTI has surged nearly 1,713% year to date, while D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) jumped 5,400% and Quantum Computing (QUBT) shares added almost 1,905%.
Rumble (RUM) surged 111% last week. Rumble said earlier this week that Tether, the issuer of a digital token of the same name, had agreed to invest $775 million investment in the company. The stock has gained 231% this year.

Hong Kong stocks capped a weekly gain after the market reopened following a two-day break, as an official report showing a fourth straight month of decline in Chinese industrial companies’ profit bolstered the argument for more stimulus support. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose 1.87%.
Li Auto-W (HK:2015/LI) rose nearly 8%, LI Auto-CEO Li Xiang said in the 2024 Li Auto AI Talk that half of LI AUTO-W's RMB10 billion a year in R&D is invested in AI, and there 50% odds that the company will make a very interesting super sports car by 2030, and it must be an AI sports car.

Singapore stocks rose in the holiday-shortened week, with the STI up 1.4%. Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 1.9% in November on a yearly basis, lower than economists' forecasts and the smallest rise in nearly three years.
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will deliver Singapore’s Budget 2025 statement in Parliament on Feb 18.

The Benchmark Index ASX 200 was up 2.41% last week to 8261.80. Australia’s central bank is more confident that inflation is moving sustainably toward target but it’s still too soon to conclude the battle is won given a recent pick-up in consumption and a still-tight labor market, minutes of the December meeting showed.

It will be another holiday-shortened week, as a strong 2024 comes to an end. Stock and bond trading markets will be closed on Wednesday for New Year’s Day.
The major averages are heading into the yearend shy of record levels, with the S&P 500 and Dow up more than 25% and 14%, respectively, and on track for the best year since 2021. The Nasdaq has gained more than 31%. The benchmarks are also headed for a winning fourth quarter, with the Nasdaq on pace for its longest quarterly winning streaking since the second quarter of 2021
Investors are hoping that stocks will continue to rise into the year-end and the new year. The phenomenon refers to the market rising into the final five trading days of a calendar year and the first two in January. The S&P 500 has returned 1.3% on average during this period since 1950, according to LPL Financial. However, some worries have mounted that the market may be losing momentum, with some year-end profit taking after the major averages notched losing sessions Friday.
Investors will gear up for Tesla's latest deliveries report, expected to be released on Thursday, just after the holiday break. According to analysts, the electric carmaker's fourth-quarter deliveries are seen at around 511,000 units, which would, if met, bring the total for 2024 to 1.8 million and match last year's performance.

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