The major U.S. index futures are sharply lower on Friday, signaling that stocks could fall for a fourth straight session in the aftermath of the Fed decision. The markets are staring at the possibility of ending the week with significant losses.
Stocks fell yet again on Thursday, with the selling particularly severe among consumer discretionary, financials, IT and material stocks — while financial stocks found some buying interest.
The sharp rise in the two-year and 10-year bond yields following the 75-basis-point Fed move drove investors away from equities.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.37% | 11,006.81 | |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.84% | 3,757.99 | |
| Dow Industrials | -0.35% | 30,076.68 |
Here’s a peek into index futures trading:
| Index | Performance (+/-) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | -1.48% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | -1.36% | |
| Dow Futures | -1.25% | |
| R2K Futures | -1.74% |
In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was down 0.85% to $371.03, and Invesco QQQ Trust(NASDAQ:QQQ) was down 1.01% to $277.23, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On the economic front, the S&P Global manufacturing, services and composite purchasing managers’ indices for September are due at 9:45 a.m. EDT. The manufacturing PMI is expected to slip from 51.5 in August to 51.1, while the services PMI may have increased from 43.7 to 45.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. EDT. He is set to give opening remarks at the “Fed Listens: Transitioning to the Post-pandemic Economy” event.
See also: Microsoft, Google, Meta Have All Dropped Below June Lows But These 2 Big Tech Stocks Are Holding Up
Stocks In Focus
- Cruise line stocks such as Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) were all notably lower.
- Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was adding on to its previous session’s losses.
- Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) could be in the spotlight after a Wall Street Journal report said the company could be paying less for some comedy specials in newly-negotiated deals.
Commodity, Global Markets
Crude oil futures, which staged a modest recovery on Thursday, are down over 3.5% due to expectations of muted demand amid an uncertain economic environment.
Asian stocks fell across the board, dragged lower by the extended slide seen in their Wall Street counterparts. The Japanese market are closed for a public holiday.
The European markets are trading notably lower amid economic worries. The euro and the pound are taking a beating, with the latter also reacting to the new U.K. government’s economic policy announced at the House of Commons on Friday.
