Market players are getting more cautious ahead of Powell’s speech and the US CPI report
Wall Street stocks came off session lows but finished mostly lower on Monday as investors continue to digest the rising possibility of a more rapid hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Also, market players are getting more cautious ahead of Powell’s speech and the US CPI report. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 shed 0.45% and 0.14%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite gained less than 0.1%.
Asian stock markets were under selling pressure on Tuesday, as investors continue to monitor the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant both in the region and globally. Of note, China reported 110 local COVID-19 confirmed cases, up from 97 a day earlier, while Zhengzhou, the city in China’s Henan province, has tightened restrictions. China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.54%. In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 0.77% even as the country’s retail sales grew 7.3% month-on-month in November versus +3.9% expected.
In Europe, equities opened higher today as market sentiment has improved somehow. With the pan-European Stoxx 600 gaining 0.9% in early trade. However, the upside potential looks limited as investors await US inflation data. The CPI to be released Wednesday is anticipated to have increased further in December to 7.1%. US stock index futures were unchanged in early premarket trade.
The dollar finished mostly higher on Monday but still lacked the momentum to get back above the 96.00 figure. Today, the USD index came back under pressure as 10-year US Treasury yields came off recent two-year highs and steadied after a rally. EURUSD briefly dipped below 1.1300 yesterday but regained this level on a daily closing basis. Furthermore, the common currency is back in the positive territory today, flirting with intraday highs in the 1.1350 region. Later in the day, comments from the ECB and Fed governors will be in the market focus
