Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, Dec. 24, 2018. U.S. stocks plunged on Monday, with most of the major indices booking their worst Christmas Eve decline, extending their huge losses in the previous week's rout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 653.17 points, or 2.91 percent, to 21792.20. The S&P 500 decreased 65.52 points, or 2.71 percent, to 2,351.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 140.08 points, or 2.21 percent, to 6,192.92. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Rising interest rates can be a hurdle to smaller companies that carry a high proportion of debt, so any sign that the Fed plans to continue to raise rates each quarter could weigh on corporate sentiment.
"Stocks trade up or down based on past stock price increases or decreases and based on forward earnings after careful analysis that includes demand for product," Monaco said, adding that it will be clearer and more definitive as to what traders will be doing after the holidays.
U.S. stocks posted huge loss in the week ending Dec. 21 as investors digested the central bank's latest rate hike decision and a batch of economic data.
For the past week, the Dow shed 6.9 percent, the S&P 500 erased 7.1 percent, and the Nasdaq declined 8.4 percent. The week saw the worst performance for the Dow and the Nasdaq since 2008, and the S&P 500's worst performance since 2011.
