A very bumpy first day of 2025 for the Dow Jones

As expected the Dow Jones did kick off the New Year on the front foot and as reported, that saw it open higher. The index effectively commenced live trading some way above the official opening level of 42,660 and then rose to set a session high at 42,905. However, it was not long before the index fell back and once below the previous close, at 42,544, it tumbled to set a low at 42,174. The rebound from then on saw it later close, 151 points lower, at 42,392. Overnight the markets in Asia are mixed and Japan is still closed. Hong Kong is is slightly higher, but the mainland Chinese markets are still reeling, as they were yesterday too, following the disappointing PMI data release. The Dow Jones futures are slightly in the green right now, but seeing as what happened yesterday, that is no guarantee of anything. There is something in the markets called the ‘January Barometer' and an update here will delve into that later today. Meantime, the Dow Jones is currently priced to reopen around 42,420