2024 kicked off with plenty of action amongst S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) stocks.
Here's why these three companies leapt into The Motley Fool's headlines on this first trading week of the New Year.
ASX 200 stocks making The Motley Fool headlines
First up we have buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock Block Inc (ASX: SQ2), which acquired Afterpay in January 2022.
Block grabbed The Motley Fool's headlines on Wednesday when the ASX 200 stock came under heavy selling pressure, closing the day down 6.7%. In the lead-up to Wednesday, the Block share price had soared 87.4% since market close on 31 October.
The biggest selling pressure came out of the United States, where Block's NYSE-listed stock closed the prior day down 6.6%. That was driven by a broader tech sell-off, as investors began to cut their bets that the US Fed will deliver its first rate cut in March.
Markets are now increasingly expecting the world's top central bank could hold rates higher for longer, with the first cuts potentially not coming until towards the end of 2024.
That could be particularly painful for the Block share price if cash strapped consumers reduce their spending, taking a bite out of ASX 200 stocks' revenues. As a growth stock, Block is also priced with future earnings in mind, with higher interest rates increasing the present cost of investing in those future earnings.
Iron ore surge draws attention to BHP dividends
The second ASX 200 stock grabbing The Motley Fool headlines this week was mining giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).
That came as iron ore, BHP's top revenue earner, continued to defy bearish expectations of a retrace, reaching US$142.55 per tonne on Thursday. That's up from US$99 in late May and up from US$115 in late October.
And with ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) forecasting the iron ore price will continue to demand between US$130 and US$140 per tonne for the early months of 2024, before retracing to US$100 per tonne by the end of the year, the elevated price of the industrial metal could bode well for BHP's interim dividend.
The ASX 200 mining stock generally pays out its interim dividends near the end of March. BHP shares currently trade on a fully franked trailing yield of 5.3%.
ASX 200 stock tanks on mining pause
Rounding out the list of three ASX 200 stocks leaping into The Motley Fool's headlines this week is lithium miner Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO).
Core Lithium made our feature news on Friday when it reported the company will suspend its mining activities due to crumbling lithium prices.
Management said this is the right decision in current market conditions, which will enable Core to conserve its cash, with the hopes that the lithium price will rebound sooner rather than later.
The ASX 200 stock plans to keep processing its existing lithium ore stockpiles while pausing mining operations at its Grants Open Pit.
In late afternoon trade on Friday, the Core Lithium share price was down 11.5% on the news, trading for 23 cents a share.
