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US stock futures traded lower ahead of the Federal Reserve’s economic and interest rate projections on Wednesday afternoon, to be announced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 32825.95 | -127.51 | -0.39% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3962.71 | -6.23 | -0.16% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITION INDEX | 13471.567189 | +11.86 | + 0.09% |
Economists hope that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will try to convince nervous financial markets that the central bank can continue to provide support without triggering inflation.
These concerns have recently increased bond yields, undermining demand for stock purchases.
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The Fed meeting “carries the potential to calm or heighten some of the recent market concerns about rising bond yields,” said Jingyi Pan, senior market strategist at IG in Singapore.
Jeffrey Halley, senior Asia-Pacific market analyst at OANDA, said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s comments about China during a visit to Japan and South Korea also dampened regional sentiments.
US stock futures traded lower ahead of the Federal Reserve’s economic and interest rate projections on Wednesday afternoon, to be announced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. (Courtney Crow / New York Stock Exchange via AP)
“The comments suggest that relations between the two superpowers remain as troubled as ever and do not bode well for tomorrow’s and Friday’s meeting between senior officials from both countries. This state of affairs is worsening the mood in Mainland China, ”said Halley.
Blinken, after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Japanese colleagues on Tuesday, denounced China, saying: “We will retreat, if necessary, when China uses coercion or aggression to get what it wants.”
Wall Street ended a busy day of trading, with indexes closing lower. Losses from banks, industrial stocks and companies that depend on consumer spending, including cruise operators, outweighed earnings from Big Tech stocks and communications services.
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The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 3,962.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% to 32,825.95. Nasdaq counteracted the trend, benefiting from the recovery of technology stocks and rising 0.1%, to 13,471.57.
The big names in technology that soared in 2020 were among the winners. Apple rose 1.6%, Alphabet, the father of Google, added 1.4% and Facebook rose 2%.
Small business stocks lagged behind the broader market. The Russell 2000 index fell 1.7% to 2,319.52.
Investors looked at the new economic data on Tuesday, which showed that Americans cut spending last month, partly due to bad weather in large parts of the country, which kept customers away from stores, and partly due to sell-out. stimulus payments in December and January.
Retail sales fell 3% seasonally in February from the previous month, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. The February drop followed sales in January, when people spent $ 600 on stimulus checks sent out late last year. In fact, the Commerce Department revised the hike in January to 7.6%, compared to the 5.3% recorded previously.
Meanwhile, the harsh winter pushed industrial production down by 2.2% in February, reflecting a large decline in the factory’s production.
“We are still in the middle of returning to a more normal environment,” said Jason Pride, director of private investment at Glenmede. “Given the amount of government stimulus payments, we will see the numbers jump.”
Investors are betting high that this economic malaise will dissipate with the arrival of spring and more Americans will be vaccinated against the coronavirus. In addition, President Joe Biden’s administration began sending $ 1,400 stimulus checks to individuals last week.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks fell in Wednesday’s silent trading, while world markets cautiously awaited the latest assessment by the US central bank of the economy.
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Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell less than 0.1% to end at 29,914.33. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6% to 3,050.17. Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 6,795.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell almost 0.1% to 29,014.67, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, falling less than 0.1% to 3,444.70.
In the energy trade, US reference oil rose 47 cents to $ 65.27 a barrel in e-commerce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He lost 59 cents to $ 64.80 on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, earned 45 cents at $ 68.84 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 109.08 Japanese yen from 108.99 yen. The euro cost $ 1.1907, compared to $ 1.1903.
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AP Business writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.