US stocks slump in first trading day of 2023 as recession fears weigh on investors

 

• US stocks slumped in their first trading session of 2023, after posting their worst year since 2008.
• Tech stocks led Tuesday's decline, with Tesla sinking more than 12% and Apple falling as much as 4%.
• Investors are concerned that stocks could fall further if the Fed continues hiking rates, which could tip the economy into a recession.

US stocks slumped Tuesday in their first trading session of 2023, after posting their worst year since 2008, amid fears of a looming recession and continued rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

Tech stocks led the decline, with Tesla stock down 12% after missing delivery goals in the fourth quarter while Apple slid 4% on reports of weakening demand, bringing its market cap below $2 trillion intraday for the first time since May. The last time Apple closed below $2 trillion was June 2021.

Early Tuesday, S&P Global's US purchasing managers index for manufacturing fell below forecasts and indicated the steepest contraction in activity since May 2020.

The November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Wednesday and the December payroll report on Friday will offer some guidance on the Fed's next policy move, as Chairman Jerome Powell has cited a tight labor market as one of the reasons why rates must remain restrictive.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday: 

• S&P 500: 3,824.13, down 0.40%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,136.37, down 0.03% (10.88 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 10,386.98, down 0.76%

Here's what else is going on: 

• The S&P 500 could see a 16% return in 2023, as one indicator is sending bullish signals, according to Bank of America.
• Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel outlined three surprises that could shake up the stock market in 2023, and predicted benchmark rates will ease to 2%-3% by the end of the year.
• Disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried asked a judge to keep the identities of two people who secured his $250 million bail package secret as he pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.
• The crypto market lost $3.7 billion to fraudsters and hackers in 2022, marking the worst year in the industry's history.
• Nobel laureate Paul Krugman blamed Elon Musk's bizarre Twitter antics for accelerating Tesla's inevitable decline.
  

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices dropped, with West Texas Intermediate down 3.9% at $77.11 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 4.2% to $82.32 a barrel.
• Gold rose 0.83% to $1,838.94 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield slipped 3.4 basis points to 3.797%.
• Bitcoin fell 0.53% to $16,647.40.