Stocks Drop Most Since August, Oil Drops: Market Brief – Business News (Trending Perfect)

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By Rajiv

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(Bloomberg) — European and U.S. stock futures fell on Wednesday, with Asian shares suffering deep losses following a selloff in their U.S. counterparts driven by a drop in Nvidia Corp.

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Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 1.3%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%, extending Wall Street’s overnight losses. Asian chipmakers fell amid renewed concerns about the AI ​​craze, dragging the regional stock index down more than 2%. Chip giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and SK Hynix Inc. each fell at least 4%.

The risk-off mood came at the start of a historically tough month for markets as a closely watched U.S. manufacturing gauge again missed expectations, shifting investors’ focus to the prospects of a slowdown in the world’s largest economy. That added to already weak sentiment in Asia, where a string of disappointing Chinese data has hurt riskier assets.

“The August 5th move probably burned more than a few people and it’s hard to get over those memories especially as the confusion between hard landing and soft landing is still unsettled,” said Charu Chanana, head of FX strategy at Saxo Markets in Singapore. “I would be a bit cautious here,” she added, as weak data will stoke recession fears while positive data will dampen expectations of rate cuts.

Treasury yields steadied after falling on Tuesday. The dollar index snapped a five-day winning streak, its longest since April. The yen rose. Oil prices fell after falling about 5% on Tuesday amid weak demand and concerns about oversupply.

The early August sell-off turned out to be a pause in a bull market rather than the start of a prolonged slide, as growing expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut erased the recession within days. The recovery gained momentum following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Australian dollar held on to losses after data showed Australia's economic weakness continued in the three months to June.

Chinese stocks fell after a private survey showed services activity expanded less than expected, in the latest sign of economic fragility.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 had their worst starts to September since 2015 and 2002, respectively. With inflation expectations stabilizing, attention has shifted to the health of the economy, where signs of weakness could prompt faster monetary easing. While interest rate cuts tend to be a good omen for stocks, that’s not usually the case when the Fed is rushing to prevent a recession.

Wall Street's fear index – the VIX – rose sharply.

“The heavy sell-off on Wall Street was a stark reminder that September has a bad reputation for risk appetite,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank in Singapore, adding that the situation could be exacerbated by the risk of a U.S. recession and the unraveling of the yen carry trade.

Traders expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by more than two full percentage points over the next 12 months — the biggest drop outside a downturn since the 1980s.

At the start of a busy week of economic data, a report showed that U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August. Focus will shift to the key U.S. jobs report due later this week. The data is expected to show the world’s largest economy added about 165,000 jobs, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The S&P 500 fell to about 5,530 points while the Nasdaq 100 lost more than 3% as Nvidia stock plunged 9.5% — wiping out $279 billion in a single day for a U.S. stock. The U.S. Justice Department has sent subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies as it seeks evidence that the chipmaker violated antitrust laws.

Main events this week:

  • HCOB Euro Area PMI and PPI services, Wednesday

  • Canada Interest Rate Decision, Wednesday

  • US Job Opportunities, Factory Orders, Beige Book, Wednesday

  • Eurozone Retail Sales, Thursday

  • US Initial Jobless Claims, ADP Employment, ISM Services Index, Thursday

  • Eurozone GDP, Friday

  • US Non-Farm Payrolls, Friday

  • Federal Reserve Board Member John Williams Speaks Friday

Some key movements in the markets:

Stocks

  • S&P 500 futures were down 0.5% as of 6:27 a.m. London time.

  • Japan's Topix index fell 3.5%.

  • Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2%.

  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3%.

  • The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6%.

  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 1.2%.

  • Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.7%.

  • Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2%.

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell 0.2%.

  • The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1058.

  • The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 145.15 yen per dollar.

  • The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 7.1093 against the dollar.

  • The Australian dollar fell 0.1% to $0.6704.

  • The pound was little changed at $1.3117.

Cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $56,526.98

  • Ether price fell 3.3% to $2,380.64

Bonds

  • The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note was little changed at 3.82%.

  • The yield on the 10-year Japanese bond fell 3.5 basis points to 0.885%.

  • The yield on the 10-year Australian bond fell by seven basis points to 3.93%.

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This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Rob Verdonk and Joanna Ussinger.

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