Friday's Market Recap - Fear Of Early Rate Hikes, And Omicron Variant Tanked Stocks Today.

What is The Premarket Telling Us?

December 18, 2021, 7:30 AM.

Stock futures were moderately lower early in premarket trading, indicating a negative open. Dow futures were down73 points, Nasdaq futures down 157 points, and S&P futures down 22 points. Asian markets finished lower overnight.

On The Bond Desk:

The US 10 Year Bond Yield at 1.422%, down 0.041%.

Currency Desk:

Eurodollar: 1.13

UK Pound: 1.32

Crude Oil:

WTI crude oil futures at $70.99/barrel. up 1.92%.

On the Earnings Calendar:

None to report

In M&A News:

None to report.

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What About The Asian And European Markets?

Major Asian markets ended decidedly lower. Japan (Nikkei 225) down 1.79%, Shanghai down 1.16 %, Hong Kong (Hang Seng) down 1.20 %.

Major European markets ended mixed. German (DAX) fell 0.67%, France CAC 40 fell 1.12%, London FTSE 100 added 0.13%.

Market And Sector Dynamics

Markets opened today's session lower, continuing yesterday's selloff with shares of technology bearing the brunt of the losses. The Dow lost 96 points, Nasdaq fell 43 points, and the S&P lost 14 points. WTI crude oil started off slightly lower at $71.92/barrel, and US 10 Year Bond traded at 1.424%, unchanged.

Investors were worried about the growing prevalence of the Omicron variant, and the potential rate hikes from a now more hawkish FOMC, which could negatively impact the earnings of high-growth US corporations, particularly technology companies. Market tone was mostly negative in the session, stocks remained below the flat line for the entire session.

In today's selloff, all eleven S&P sectors ended the day with losses, led by Financials, Energy, Consumer Staples, Industrials, Utilities, Basic Materials, Communication Services, Healthcare, Technology, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate.

Factors Influencing Today's Market

• US 10 Year Bond closed at 1.407%, down 1.19%.

• WTI crude oil closed at $70.86/barrel, down 2.10%.

• This week's Baker Hughes US Oil Rig count by 4 to 475 total.

• Asian markets ended lower today, and European stocks ended mixed.

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

Markets ended lower on Friday. The Dow plunged 532.20 points, Nasdaq lost 10.75 points, and the S&P fell 48.03 points. Total NYSE volume traded, a heavy 8.38 billion shares. Declining shares outpaced Advancing shares by 1.41:1.

Data Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.