U.S. stock futures declined on Friday morning, extending the market’s downward trend and erasing some of the post-election gains. This bearish sentiment is mainly due to concerns over the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the S&P 500 (SPX) were down 0.83%, 0.52%, and 0.61%, respectively, at 3:18 a.m. EST, November 15.
In regular trading on Thursday, the Dow Jones closed lower by 0.5%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% each. The downside was fueled by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments, which indicated that the central bank is in no rush to cut interest rates.
Adding to the market’s woes, October’s U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data showed a slight acceleration in inflation. This, along with Powell’s comments, hurt future rate-cut expectations.
In key corporate news, Applied Materials (AMAT) stock declined 6% in after-hours trading following a soft Q4 revenue forecast. On the other hand, Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) shares surged about 8% after Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) revealed a new stake in the company.
Moving ahead, investors are looking forward to some major economic data releases today, including U.S. Retail Sales, Import Price Index, and Industrial Production. These reports will provide insights into the health of the U.S. economy and potentially influence market sentiment. On the earnings front, e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) is set to report its quarterly earnings today.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield was up at the time of writing, floating near 4.439%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended lower, hovering near $67.55 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European markets opened lower today as investors awaited key inflation data for October from France, Germany, and Italy.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed on Friday
Asia-Pacific indices were mixed today as traders evaluated key economic data from China and Japan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.02%. Also, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices fell 1.45% and 2.62%, respectively. However, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices finished higher by 0.28% and 0.39%, respectively.
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