U.S. stock were broadly down as the sell-off continued out of the gate today. Weakness in Asian and European indices coupled with fresh losses booked by oil jointly weighed over earnings positives from yesterday.
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Market points to lower opening
Before the opening, S&P 500 Futures had traded down by 14.50 points or 0.74% to 1,917. The S&P 500 is now trading at 1908. Both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones are trading down more than 1.5%.
Up ahead, market participants are looking forward to monthly U.S. car sales data for January alongside earnings report from some significant names. According to chief market strategist of ADS Securities, Nour Al-Hammoury, markets might pay more attention to oil prices in the absence of any major economic data release during the day.
Asian and European markets
In global markets, major Asian indices except China’s Shanghai Composite Index were in the negative. Shanghai managed to close 2.3% higher today after China’s central bank infused more liquidity into the system.
In Europe, disappointing unemployment data as well as the oil slide, guided markets lower. As the Eurozone jobless data hit a new four-year low, analysts have commented that quantitative easing by the European Central Bank is inevitable.
Yesterday, the U.S. stock market had recovered slightly after manufacturing data declined for the fourth straight month in a row. The disappointing number renewed hopes that the Federal Reserve may slow down its monetary tightening stance. These hopes found ground after Fed Vice Chairman, Stanley Fischer, indicated that the possibility of a rate hike this year could be pushed out further.
The Institute of Supply Management posted a January reading at 48.2, below expansion rate of 50. Also, the inflation dropped 0.1% in December and stood at 1.4% over the last year, below the Fed’s target of 2%. Following release of these data, CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed that the probability of rate hike in March declined to 14% in the afternoon from 21% in the morning.
