Nasdaq 100 leads the losses as US stocks slide on profit-taking

Well, the US pre-Christmas party sure came to an abrupt end yesterday evening. In my penultimate update, I did note that not such a positive start was expected for the US stock markets, but initially that did not materialise into immediate losses because the Dow Jones (more on that in minute) and the Nasdaq 100 reversed their earlier opening losses and went onto set yet more records. In the case of the Nasdaq that meant a new all time high at 16,860, from an opening level at 16,763. However, after the European close the slide that followed saw the index fall to a low at 16,552 and it closed pretty much on that low too, when ending the session at 16,552. The US falls were all about profit-taking and that has delivered something similar for the Nikkei 225 today and sent European futures lower as well. However, the US futures have rebounded so far this morning and pricing a higher opening for the Nasdaq later today, just now at around 16,640. The real question now, is whether yesterday was a one hit wonder, or there is more to come ahead of the Christmas weekend?