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U.S. equity indexes traded lower late Wednesday morning, and the Dow industrials hit their lowest level in two weeks, as the broader market was weighed by selling in the information technology sector.
Investors also were digesting comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who said the Fed should ease monetary programs as the most severe impact of the COVID pandemic recedes.
How are stock-index futures trading?
-
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.31%
traded 110 points, or 0.3%, lower to reach around 34,990, but had touched an intraday nadir at 34,925.61, representing the lowest level for the blue-chip gauge since about Aug. 20, FactSet data show. -
The S&P 500 index
SPX,
-0.38%
shed about 18 points, or 0.4%, at 4,502. -
The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
-0.95%
traded 130 points, or 0.9%, lower at 15,244.
On Tuesday, the Dow industrials fell 269.09 points, or 0.8%, to finish at 35,100, the S&P 500 slipped 15.40 points, or 0.3%, to end at 4,520.03. The Nasdaq Composite gained 10.81 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 15,374.33.
What’s driving the market?
Investors were wrestling with markets that are relatively lightly traded, following the Labor Day holiday, where markets were closed on Monday, and the end of Rosh Hashana, which concludes at sunset on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, traders were lightening up on technology shares, with uncertainty growing about the outlook for stocks after a strong second-quarter earnings period and doubts about the persistence of policies that will continue to fuel further record gains for stocks that are considered richly valued.
“Investors on the whole have enjoyed a fairly decent run this year, but now attention is turning from the post-lockdown spending splurge to how corporate earnings might fare next year,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, in a note to clients.
A clutch of Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs, have cut U.S. growth targets in the wake of weaker-than-expected jobs figures.
“There is a sense that some of the market forecasts have been too optimistic and so there could be some share-price disappointment unless we see GDP figures pick up and the COVID delta variant stops causing so much trouble,” he said.
On top of that, Bullard said the central bank would press on with plans to ease monetary stimulus, and brushed aside worries over slowing employment, in an interview with the Financial Times that was published Wednesday.
“There is plenty of demand for workers and there are more job openings than there are unemployed workers,” Bullard told the FT. Getting the two “matched up” will contribute to a “very strong” labor market headed into 2022, he said.
“The big picture is that the taper will get going this year and will end sometime by the first half of next year,” Bullard was quoted as saying.
Bullard had previously said the Fed should begin the tapering process sooner rather than later, with an eye toward ending purchases altogether by early next year.
Meanwhile, job openings rose to a record 10.9 million in July, the Labor Department said Wednesday, marking the fifth straight all-time monthly high and exceeding forecasts for a rise of 10 million. Job hires, however, slipped by 160,000 to 6.7 million in July. Separations rose 174,000 to 5.8 million.
All that said, some strategists remain optimistic about the outlook for markets but are suggesting that investors should be more discerning.
“The best days of cyclical value may be behind us, but it’s too early to turn fully to defensive themes. We are sticking with the reflation trade, but with a focus on identifying companies likely to experience upward earnings revisions,” wrote Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments in a note published Wednesday.
“We favor a global allocation, with an overweight to international developed equity. Value and small cap equities, with a focus on quality companies, should continue to thrive,” the strategist wrote.
One issue that has been looming for investors is the government’s debt limit.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday that Treasury could run out of room next month to keep paying the government’s bills unless Congress steps in to suspend or raise the federal borrowing limit.
“A delay that calls into question the federal government’s ability to meet all its obligations would likely cause irreparable damage to the U.S. economy and global financial markets,” Yellen wrote.
Looking ahead, investors will be watching for clues about the health of the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, an anecdotal account of business conditions in the central bank’s 12 business districts. That report comes out at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
Which companies are in focus?
- Coinbase Global Inc. shares COIN were down 3.6%, under pressure after the crypto exchange said Wednesday that a U.S. regulator intends to sue it in court if it launches a planned program letting users earn interest on lending crypto.
-
Meme stock GameStop Corp.
GME,
-2.58%
is slated to report quarterly results later Wednesday. Shares were down 2.7%. -
NIO Inc.
NIO,
-6.60%
shares fell 5.6% after the Chinese electric-car company announced plans to sell up to $2 billion in fresh U.S. shares.
How are other assets trading?
-
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
1.354%
slipped nearly 1 basis point to 1.36%. Yields move in the opposite direction of prices. -
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
+0.23% ,
a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.2%. -
Oil futures rose, with the U.S. benchmark
CL00,
+1.38%
advancing 1.4% to $69.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures
GC00,
-0.22%
fell 0.7% to trade at $1,786 an ounce. -
European equities were under pressure, with the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
-1.06%
closing 1.1% lower and the FTSE 100
UKX,
-0.75%
ending Wednesday’s session off 0.9%. The European Central Bank will meet Thursday, and economists expect a modest reduction in the rate of bond purchases. -
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
-0.04%
rose 1.5%, while the Hang Seng Index
HSI,
-0.12%
slipped 0.1% and Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK,
+0.89%
advanced 0.9%.
