| symbol | Price | change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | $33,947.10 | -.482.78 | -1.40 |
| SP500 | $3,998.84 | -72.86 | -1.79 |
| I: COMP | $11,239.94 | -.221.56 | -1.93 |
US stocks trended lower early Tuesday morning after spending most of the night.
Investors are watching the Fed closely, hoping it may slow the pace of rate hikes aimed at curbing stubbornly high inflation.
The service sector, which makes up the bulk of the US economy, showed surprising growth in November, the Institute for Supply Management reported on Monday.
Business orders at US factories and durable goods orders also rose more-than-expected in October. This news is positive for the broader economy, but complicates the Fed’s fight against inflation as it likely means the central bank will have to keep raising interest rates to ease price pressures.
The Fed meets next week and is expected to hike rates by half a percentage point, which would mean some sort of easing from a steady stream of three-quarters of a percentage point hikes.
The central bank has raised interest rates six times since March, bringing them to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest level in 15 years. Wall Street expects interest rates to reach a peak range of 5% to 5.25% by mid-2023.
The goal is to cool growth without slamming on the brakes and triggering a recession that would spread across the global economy and slow trade and consumer spending.
The S&P 500 fell 1.8% to 3,998.84 on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4% to 33,947.10 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.9% to close at 11,239.94. S
Mall stocks fell even more sharply, sending the Russell 2000 Index down 2.8% to 1,840.22.
Wall Street is due for a weekly jobless claims update on Thursday, while the monthly report on November producer prices is due on Friday.
Meanwhile, stocks in Asia were mostly lower on Tuesday after Wall Street slipped as surprisingly strong economic reports highlighted the difficulty of the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.
Tokyo rose, Shanghai remained flat and other regional markets declined. US futures rose and so did oil prices. In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 19,367.84 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.1% to 2,393.16. The Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 3,212.53. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index closed 0.2% higher at 27,885.87. Stocks also fell in Bangkok and Taiwan.