U. S. stock indexes opened down for second day in a row
2023.03.08 10:49
U. S. stock indexes opened down for second day in a row
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – A day after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fueled bets of sharper rate hikes, investors worried about a possible recession caused U.S. stock indexes to struggle for direction on Wednesday.
Data showed that private payrolls in the United States increased in February more than anticipated, indicating that the labor market is still strong ahead of Friday’s crucial nonfarm payrolls report.
Tuesday, Powell told lawmakers in the United States that the Fed would likely need to raise interest rates more than expected to control inflation. This caused key stock indexes in the United States to fall by more than 1 percent, with the benchmark S&P 500 experiencing its largest percentage decline in two weeks.
Money market futures price in a nearly 70% chance that the U.S. central bank will raise rates by 50 basis points later this month, prompting traders to significantly increase their wagers.
At 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Powell will give a second testimony to the House Financial Services Committee.
On Tuesday, the deepest inversion of the U.S. Treasury yield curve in more than 40 years occurred in a region that was closely watched. An inversion of this kind is thought to be a reliable sign of a recession. According to Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, “The yield on the two-year is really showing you that the Treasury curve is taking the Fed seriously about where interest rates are going, whereas the 10-year is really trying to get behind that hard landing narrative.”
“We really don’t know which way we should land in unless we get some data over the next two weeks. We’ve got a market that’s meandering a little because, sadly, the most important piece of data doesn’t come until Friday.
BlackRock, Inc. Rick Rieder, global fixed income chief investment officer for (BLK), said that the Fed could raise rates to 6% and keep them there for a long time to fight inflation. The Fed funds rate currently stands at 5.66%, according to traders.
U.S. job openings are likely to rise to 10.5 million in January from an unexpected 11 million in December, according to labor department data at 10:00 a.m. ET.
At 9:38 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq Composite was up 5.46 points, or 0.05%, at 11,535.80, the S&P 500 was down 1.51 points, or 0.04%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7.11 points, or 0.02%, at 32,849.35.
Tesla, Inc. After reports of steering wheels falling off while driving, the U.S. auto safety regulator announced that it would begin a preliminary investigation into 120,000 Model Y 2023 vehicles.
Corporation of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE) After Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: OXY) gained 3.4%, The oil company’s stake in BRKa) Inc. increased to approximately 22.2%.
The ratio of declining issues to advancers was 1.11 to 1 on the (NYSE) and 1.38 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The Nasdaq saw 11 new highs and 57 new lows, while the S&P index saw no new 52-week highs or lows.
