Rate this post by selecting a number. 1 is the worst and 5 is the best.

Author Message   Entrepreneur Kurra Bewarse Username: Entrepreneur Post Number: 3864 Registered: 05-2011 Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Monday, January 03, 2022 - 2:37 pm:    Small caps in the lead The stock market has started the new month -- and new year -- on a familiar-looking note. The major indices have shown some resilience to selling interest, and have more of a risk-on position driving them. To wit, the worst-performing sectors at the moment are the real estate (-2.1%), health care (-1.7%), utilities (-1.5%), and consumer staples (-0.9%) sectors. The best-performing sectors are the energy (+2.4%), consumer discretionary (+1.8%), financials (+1.1%), information technology (+0.5%), and communication services (+0.4%) sectors. Tesla (TSLA 1165.52, +108.74, +10.5%) has been a key driver of the broader market, surging after reporting much better than expected deliveries for the fourth quarter. Separately, small-cap stocks are in the lead today, which is not unusual in the early portion of a new year, as prior laggards driven by tax-loss selling pressure are identified as good rebound candidates. That understanding, along with the early outperformance of the energy and financial stocks, which have heavy representation in the Russell 2000, are pacing the small-cap outperformance. Looking away from stocks, the Treasury market has come under some widespread selling pressure to begin the year. The 2-yr note yield is up five basis points to 0.78%, but the 10-yr note yield is up 10 basis points to 1.61%. That move in long-term rates has exerted some pressure on some of the more highly-valued, unprofitable growth stocks, and is presenting a headwind of sorts for the broader market.