Wall Street falls on the last trading day of the year, and experts see long-term gains in the U.S. dollar index

Wall Street falls on the last trading day of the year, and experts see long-term gains in the U.S. dollar index.

Wall Street’s major indexes failed to add gains on the final trading day of the year. As of 15:45 New York time, the S&P benchmark plunged by 0.79 percent to end the year by 3,819,80 basis points. Based on the Wall Street Journal, the S&P 500 benchmark is currently down by 19.2%.

As for tech stocks, the Nasdaq index is down by 33% this year and down by 0.66 percent on the last trading day of this year. Netflix, Amazon, and Meta were among the top losers on the Nasdaq. Increasing market volatility and higher interest rate hikes have impacted the market attractiveness of technology stocks over the last year. Currently, the index is down by more than 33% and ended the year with a total score of 10,388.5.

As for the Dow feature, the index totaled this year, an estimation of 8.6% decline. Today, the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 0.57 percent and ended the year with a total of 33,032.80 basis points.

As for the currency market, the U.S. dollar remains under its August high record, the index declining by 0,26% to $103,33. In terms of the green currency’s future outlook, experts forecast that the dollar could benefit from massive support by next year.

Higher interest rates had added some support to the U.S. dollar, but for long-term effects, the support will turn into a limited downside trend. We have seen that in the past three months the dollar gained momentum and surpassed the Euro and most other currencies, yet the peaks were only meant for short-term gains.

Meanwhile, in the commodity market, oil and bent oil in the United States finished the year with their highest gains of the year. The economic sanctions on Russia and the ban on Russian oil had put enormous pressure on the global supply chain.

The following were the oil prices at the end of the year:

The West Texas Intermediate ended the year at a level price of $79 per barrel, a 1,16% increase from Thursday’s trading day. Brent oil rose by 1,31% and ended the year at $84.57 per barrel. Yet, it seems that natural gas prices have declined a bit from Monday’s average level of $5.5 to $4.49 per gallon.

By the end of today’s trading hours, markets will turn their attention to the new year and market expectations. The good news is that inflation is not resolved, but it seems to be declining, which can boost investors’ and market sentiments. Yet, there is also the possibility of a market recession due to increasing tension between the U.S. and China, plus the western countries and Russia.

Without a doubt, the global central banks will keep increasing their interest rate hikes despite the market fears. And that shapes market problems and fears, as we have seen that higher interest rates have increased the risk level in both the stock market and the bond market.

Therefore, the trouble is whether the market can stand against aggressive interest rate hikes or not. If not, the possibility of a market recession will rise to a full percentage point.