Despite the Dow’s nine-day losing streak, we are not in a crisis

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Dow drops for ninth day
Tuesday, the The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.61%, marking a nine-day losing streak. I S&P 500 down 0.39% again Nasdaq Composite changed to -0.32% for the week. European region The Stoxx 600 The index fell 0.42%, down 1.4% in banking stocks. European technology stocks, however, managed to counter the decline by adding 0.61%.

What to expect from the Fed
The US Federal Reserve concludes its two-day rate-setting meeting later this Wednesday. Despite sticky inflation and a strong labor market, the Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points. But a CNBC poll of 27 respondents, including economists, strategists and fund managers, showed that only 63% thought it was the right move by the Fed.

Nvidia and Broadcom fall together
Nvidia shares fell 1.2% on Tuesday, finding themselves deep in correction territory, generally understood as a 10% (or more) decline from an all-time high close. Broadcom Company The rally also lost steam, with its shares down 3.9%.

Auto manufacturers, combine
Japanese car manufacturers Nissan Motor again Honda Motor are considering a merger, according to a Tuesday report by The Nikkei. Both companies also plan to deliver Mitsubishi Motors – where Nissan owns 24%, making it the largest shareholder – under the holding company in the end. Both Honda and Nissan did not confirm or deny the report.

[PRO] Santa Rally, rush to the market tonight
A Santa Rally is a situation where stock prices rise during the last five days of the year and the first two days of January. With the Fed’s meeting concluded today – and without any unwelcome surprises – markets are ready to welcome Santa Claus and celebrate the holidays, Bank of America said.

In February 1978, the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” was the top Billboard song of the month. It was also a rallying cry for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has struggled with nine straight days of losses.

Over the next fifty years, the Dow went on a nine-day losing streak again. To take another cue from Billboard’s chart, all investors want for Christmas is the Dow to stop the bleeding red.

That said, it’s not a big deal for the 30-stock index, despite the scary numbers.

The heaviest drag on the Dow is UnitedHealthcontributing to more than half of the index’s decline in the past eight sessions, CNBC’s Yun Li noted. The health insurance company has been hit by the firing of its CEO Brian Thompson and a wider selloff in the industry.

Despite the Dow, the stock market is still upbeat. Although the S&P and Nasdaq also slipped in their last trading session, both indexes are moving closer to their record closes. This suggests that it is mainly the components of the Dow – “old economy” stocks such as industrials, financials and consumer discretionary – that are deteriorating.

“Wall Street is waking up to the fact that a Trump presidency may not be as big on stocks as some people had hoped,” said David Russell, head of global markets at TradeStation. “Financials and industries jumped on his win but now may have to deal with higher rates and trade uncertainty, and health care faces the biggest political risks in recent memory.”

In addition, Dow losses may follow, but the trend is not uphill. The index is just 3.6% off its record high, and its 50-day moving average is still trending higher.

While it’s not as if the stock market is giving investors free money, we’re still not in dire straits.

– CNBC’s Yun Li, Michelle Fox, Fred Imbert, Alex Harring, Adrian van Hauwermeiren, Brian Evans and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.