Stocks lower as renewed inflation fears lift dollar, US Treasury yields
Published 3:26 am Thursday, September 7, 2023
- nyse_3
U.S. equity futures slipped lower Thursday, while the dollar held near six-month highs against its global peers, and renewed inflation concerns continue to blunt stock performance amid the ongoing resilience of the world’s biggest economy.
ISM data from the services sector, the most important component to U.S. growth, showed a big jump in August activity that included higher prices paid by company managers and robust hiring plans into the autumn months.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book reading of economic activity around the various regions, by contrast, showed moderating prospects and slowing wage gains, but still suggested enough potential to mitigate near-term recession concerns despite a recent San Francisco Fed study that suggested rate hikes will act as a drag on economic growth for the better part of a decade.
The hot jobs and price data from the ISM reading triggered a spike in Treasury bond yields Wednesday that added headwinds to U.S. stocks and tipped global markets into a third day of losses in overnight trading.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last marked at 4.272% in early New York dealing, with 2-year notes hovering just below the 5% mark at 4.991% ahead of weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 am Eastern time.
The CME Group’s FedWatch, meanwhile, is pricing in a 93% chance that the Fed holds its benchmark lending rate steady at between 5.25% and 5.5% when it meets later this month in Washington, with bets on a November rate hike now pegged at 43.5%.
Global oil prices, meanwhile, edged lower in overnight trading ahead of Energy Department data on domestic stockpiles and U.S. production rates later this morning.
Brent crude futures, the global pricing benchmark which has been trading over $90 a barrel for the first time this year following the extension of production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia, was marked 37 cents lower at $90.25 per barrel in overnight trading.
WTI futures for October delivery, which are tightly-linked to U.S. gasoline prices, were marked 45 cents lower at $87.09 per barrel.
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 are indicating a 10 point pullback for the benchmark while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average suggest a modest 33 point gain. The tech-focused Nasdaq is called 88 points lower.
In Europe, the region-wide Stoxx 600 looked to snap a three-day losing streak with a modest 0.15 rise in early Frankfurt trading, while Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4% in London off the back of a weaker pound and firmer energy stocks.
- Action Alerts PLUS offers expert portfolio guidance to help you make informed investing decisions. Sign up now.