Welcome to MarketBites! Here's all you need to know about yesterday's market news.

“One of the things I definitely think of as a driver of me is fear. And it's fear of failure, fear of being overtaken." 

- Jocko Willink

MARKET PERFORMANCE

PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY

The Dow Jones fell 1.81% to lead Wednesday's market retreat as investors took profits on some of the strong January gains and as a disappointing December retail sales reading raised concerns about a recession. Shares of banks led the losses.

JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo fell as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield slid to its lowest level since September. Shares of regional banks like Zions and Fifth Third posted bigger losses. Elsewhere, Microsoft announced plans to lay off about 10,000 employees, which hurt investor sentiment. The stock fell almost 2%, contributing to the Dow’s decline.

Investors had been enjoying strong upward momentum for stocks since the start of the year, although many had begun to doubt the market’s strength even before Wednesday’s slide. 

CHART OF THE DAY

Retail spending fell in December at the sharpest pace of 2022, marking a dismal end to the holiday shopping season as rising interest rates, still-high inflation, and recession concerns strained American consumers. Purchases at stores, restaurants, and online, declined a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in December from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. 

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