U.S. stocks are recoiling on worries that good news on the job market may prove to be bad for Wall Street by keeping inflation and interest rates high.

A soft finish to 2024 still left stocks with a second straight stellar year. The S&P 500 logged a 23.3% gain, which follows a 24% rise in 2023. The combined gains of more than 53% was the largest two-year percentage jump for the index since year-end 1998,

Stock indexes closed mostly lower on Wall Street on the final day of another record-setting year. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% Tuesday, but still managed to rack up a gain of 23.3% for the year, its second straight year with gains of more than 20%.

Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, deriving optimism from rising technology stocks on Wall Street, led by Nvidia. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4% in morning trading to 40,248.68. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 0.

U.S. stock futures quickly tumbled after the government said U.S. employers added a stronger-than-expected 256,000 jobs in December. Economists were expecting hiring to increase by 153,000.

U.S. stocks are sinking on worries that Friday’s good news on the job market may be too good and prove to be bad for Wall Street by keeping inflation and interest rates high. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in early trading and on track for its fourth losing week in the last five.