The 7th of December was the first trading day after the excellent job report posted by the FED on Friday. Due to these excellent numbers and the unemployment rate sitting steady around 5%, it became almost certain that the FED will hike rates this month. This provided a well-needed boost to stocks in the financial sector.

After posting their biggest daily gains in almost three months on Friday, US Stock Indexes started the week with a small decline. All three major market indexes closed with a loss between 0, 66 % and 0, 79%. There were some positives to show for the day, mostly coming from the area or airline stocks. Average gains for that sector were around 4%, mostly due to the fact that they all benefit a lot from cheap oil prices. Other gains were made in the technology sector, one renowned for the fact that it posts steady, almost monthly gains from the financial crisis.

In less-than-positive news, the energy sector of the S&P 500 was the main loser of the day. Energy stocks posted their largest daily loss since August, closing at – 3, 7% for the day after rebounding a little from almost -5% at the lowest point of the day. Investors are also worried about the very likely upcoming rate hike in their meeting on 15-16 Dec.

Oil was again one of the biggest discussion points of the day. Oil prices have reached 6 year lows, closing the day around the price where the correction in August began and the absolute lows from the financial crisis in 2009. Analysts believe that oil prices will stay around this level for the foreseeable future, without any significant changes in news or policies.

The week has begun a rather busy month of December, one in which we wait for several reports and meetings which will strongly impact how 2016 will start. The biggest will undoubtedly the FED meeting on 15-16 December, which will set the end-year prices for stocks and the US dollar.