GLOBAL MARKETS DJIA 33949.01 -207.68 -0.61% Nasdaq 11910.52 -203.27 -1.68% S&P 500 4117.86 -46.14 -1.11% FTSE 100 7885.17 20.46 0.26% Nikkei Stock 27483.03 -123.43 -0.45% Hang Seng 21420.90 137.38 0.65% Kospi 2482.90 -0.74 -0.03% SGX Nifty* 17897.00 7 0.04% *Feb contract USD/JPY 131.43-44 0.00% Range 131.83 131.24 EUR/USD 1.0733-36 +0.21% Range 1.0735 1.0710 CBOT Wheat March $7.646 per bushel Spot Gold $1,872.89/oz -0.1% Nymex Crude (NY) $78.40 $1.26 US STOCKS
U.S. stocks fell, reversing the prior session's rally, as investors focused on what recent remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mean for the trajectory of interest rates.
The S&P 500 retreated 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.7%.
"The attention span of the market is getting shorter and shorter," said Justin Wiggs, managing director of equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus. "It's frustrating to investors."
One focus for investors this week has been comments from Fed officials. Following Powell's remarks Tuesday, Fed governor Christopher Waller said in an appearance Wednesday that the central bank will need to keep monetary policy sufficiently restrictive for a few years to tamp down inflation. He added that the quarter-percentage point increase the Fed approved last month "seems like the right size to adjust policy."
Traders will continue to watch for any shifts in tone after last week's stronger-than-expected jobs report, which stoked concern that the Fed could end up tightening monetary policy by more than expected.
ASIAN STOCKS
Japanese stocks were lower, dragged down by falls in electronics and tech stocks amid continued concerns about further tightening by the Fed. Earnings are in focus. Toyota Motor, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Tokyo Electron Ltd. are set to announce their results later in the day. The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.5% at 27462.74.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi fell 0.6% to 2469.71, dragged down by internet and tech stocks. Hawkish comments by Fed officials on the need for a longer period of high interest rates are weighing on sentiment. The retreat in U.S. tech stocks overnight has also prompted local investors to book profit after recent gains.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.6% at 21160.41 in early trade amid a risk-off mood. Comments from Fed official Christopher Waller that interest rates may remain higher for longer quashed recent dovish investor expectations, said IG market strategist Jun Rong Yeap in a note. The key focus on the economic calendar will be China's inflation readings due Friday, he added. Declines were broad-based.
Chinese shares declined in early trade, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight, as investors digested remarks by Fed officials on the interest-rate trajectory. Most stocks were lower with software companies and retailers leading the laggards. ?The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.1% at 3227.73, while the Shenzhen Composite Index and the ChiNext Price were each 0.2% lower.
FOREX
Asian currencies were mixed against USD in the morning session, but may be pressured by Fed officials' hawkish comments. Four Fed officials uniformly reiterated a need to keep monetary policy restrictive overnight, said Chang Wei Liang, forex and credit strategist at DBS Group Research, in an email. The Fed's rhetoric is now clearly at odds with market pricing of rate cuts later this year, the strategist added. USD/KRW rose 0.2% to 1,264.54, USD/SGD was little changed at 1.3263, while AUD/USD gained 0.2% to 0.6938.
METALS
Gold edged lower in the morning Asian session, weighed by hawkish remarks from Fed officials overnight. New York Fed President John Williams and Fed Gov. Lisa Cook are supporting the argument that the U.S. central bank has two more rate increases and that rates may need to stay higher for some time, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in an email. The precious metal looks like it'll consolidate until after the coming U.S. inflation report, Moya added. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,872.89/oz.
OIL SUMMARY
Oil edged lower in the morning Asian session, weighed down by a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. oil inventories. The weekly EIA report released overnight showed a 2.4 million-barrel rise in U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, a moderately bearish surprise compared to expectations for 2 million-barrel increase, said Citi Research analysts in a research report. Front-month WTI crude oil futures were 0.1% lower at $78.40/bbl; front-month Brent was down 0.1% at $84.99/bbl.
TOP HEADLINES Stocks Fall as Investors Keep Eye on Path of Interest Rates Fed Officials Signal Higher Interest Rates Will Be Needed to Contain Inflation Brookfield Caps 2022 With $93 Billion Fundraising Record Turkey's Financial Markets Shudder as Earthquake Economic Costs Mount New White House Wage Data Show Slowing Pressure on 'Supercore' Inflation U.S. Oil Inventories Rise as Production Hits 34-Month High Corporate Bonds Bounce Back After Horrible 2022 Biggest Shipping Companies Signal Global Trade Slowdown Treasury Says Cloud Computing Poses Risks to Financial Sector Strong Dollar Still Rattles U.S. Multinational Corporate Earnings Some $191 Billion in Pandemic Payments May Have Been Improper, Labor Inspector General Says China's Fleet of Balloons Prove Hard to Detect as They Survey the World Senate Republicans Demand Answers on Handling of Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Fatal Tesla Crash in 2021 Is Tied to Excessive Speed Abbott Laboratories to Acquire Cardiovascular Systems At Equity Value of $890M Twitter Users Say They Can't Post or Send Direct Messages Post to Buy Pet Food Brands From J.M. Smucker for $1.2 Billion SpaceX Limits Ukraine's Military Use of Starlink Satellite Business Siemens Profit Falls, but Electronics Company Raises Outlook for Year MGM Resorts Shares Rise on Higher Quarterly Revenue, Share Buyback Program Southwest Airlines Executive to Tell Congress 'We Messed Up' in Holiday Meltdown Disney Plans to Cut 7,000 Jobs, $5.5 Billion in Costs Third Point Has a Stake in Salesforce GM Looks to Deepen Mining Ties With Stake in Brazil's Vale Google Follows Microsoft in Unveiling AI Search Features BP CEO Hits Back at Critics of His Shift to More Oil Drilling Fox to Seek Acquisition Targets After Decision to Drop News Corp Deal
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-08-23 2215ET
