Global Courant
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, August 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Equity futures were lower after the market suffered three straight days of declines as the tech-driven rally faded.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 118 points, or 0.34%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.29% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3%.
The rally appeared to be slowing this week as all three major averages fell for three days in a row. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% on Wednesday, marking its worst daily performance in June. The stock benchmark is now down 1% year-to-date, on track to break a five-week profit streak.
The technically heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%, the worst daily performance since June 7. Big winner in artificial intelligence amd fell 5.7% on Wednesday, while Intel withdrew 6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagee slipped 0.3%.
Wednesday’s drop came as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said more rate hikes are likely on the horizon to fight inflation.
“Powell said lowering inflation has a long way to go and that could very well mean they won’t stop until the fall,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “If other central banks seem ready to make more than a few rate hikes, that could make it easier for the Fed to stay aggressive with tightening.”
The Fed held interest rates steady at last week’s policy meeting after 10 consecutive hikes. However, officials indicated that another two quarter percentage points could rise this year.
Powell will deliver his semiannual monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday morning. Investors will be on the lookout for further comments on inflation and interest rates.
Investors will also follow weekly jobless claims data Thursday morning, which is expected to show a total of 256,000, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
