4.05pm: Bitcoin price tumbles 5% as China bans cryptocurrencies trading
US stocks clawed back to finish week flat as investor optimism over an economic recovery outweighed the decision by China’s central bank to make all cryptocurrency-related activities illegal.
At the close, the Dow rose 33 points to 34,798, while the S&P 500 edged up seven points at 4,456 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq moved five points lower to 15,047.
Notable movers included shares of NIKE, Inc, which slid more than 6% after the iconic sneaker maker lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook because of a prolonged production shutdown in Vietnam.
12:10pm: US equities down midday after a week of volatility
US stocks were down midday after a week of volatility and as China bans cryptocurrencies.
China’s central bank declared all cryptocurrency-related activities illegal on Friday.
And so far, the Nasdaq is down 0.4% for the week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P are up 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
As of noon, the Dow dropped 12 points, or 0.03%, at 34,756. The S&P 500, which fell 1.7% on Monday during a massive market rout, dropped 0.25 points, or 0.01%, to 4,448,
The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 49 points, or 0.29%, to stand at 15,008.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading group IG, said investors appear to be regaining a positive outlook.
“European markets have trimmed their recent gains this afternoon, while in the US the morning weakness in futures has been steadily reversed. The worries of the first half of the week have disappeared, and dip buyers find themselves firmly in charge as the last full week of September draws to a close,” he said.
“After the strong gains of Tuesday-Thursday European stocks have continued to take a breather, providing one note of caution for the week ahead but it seems like stock markets have successfully navigated the worries over Evergrande and jitters about the Fed’s policy outlook, leaving the overall move higher in stocks intact once more.”
The biggest gainer on the day so far is Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP), up 26% to $56.45 a share on the NYSE.
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9.55am: Wall Street starts in red
US shares started, as expected, in the red on Friday as stock markets mull over various risk factors, including stimulus tapering and potential interest rate rises.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed over 18 points to stand at 34,746.
The S&P 500 lost over seven points at 4,441. The tech heavy Nasdaq plunged around 76 points in early deals at 14,975.
Also in focus is the fate of Chinese property giant Evergrande after a deadline on an interest payment to its US dollar bondholders passed without any remark from the firm.
7.20am: Wall Street poised to start lower
US stocks are seen starting in the red on the last day of the trading week as investors await more Fed speak and are still jittery about Chinese property giant Evergrande.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 101 points, while the S&P 500 futures are off over 16 points. Futures for the Nasdaq contract are over 86 points lower.
On Thursday, Wall Street closed firmly higher as the stock rebound continued. The S&P 500 posted its best day since July, up 1.2% to finish at 4,449 points, while the Dow Jones added more than 500 points to close at 34,765 points, a 1.5% gain.
Jerome Powell, the US central bank chairman will speak virtually later this morning. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman and Vice Chair Richard Clarida will also speak at 10 am ET. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12pm ET.
Following this week's FOMC meeting, markets are now expecting the stimulus measures to begin to be pulled back this year, while tehy are aslo eying the rising inflationary environment and possible rate rises.
"Although the Fed and BoE remain fairly cautious and the dogma of transitory inflation persists, they’re starting to move beyond pandemic-era emergency mode," said Neil Wilson at Markets.com in a note this morning.
"Investors see this and are moving too – rates steepening again as they did earlier this year. As we noted yesterday morning, whilst the initial reaction to the Fed’s announcement on Wednesday saw the yield curve flatten, the steepening as the long end picks up is the natural response to the Fed turning more hawkish – it was not just earlier for lift-off but also more hikes in 2023/24. Investors are also betting on higher inflation for longer."
Five more things to watch for on Friday:
Further to the Evergrande saga a deadline yesterday (Thursday) for paying US$83.5 million in bond interest passed without noise from the Chinese giant, while bondholders had not been paid nor heard from the company, according to Reuters. The company has total debts, reportedly, of around US$305 billion.
Wall Street expects cruise liner titan Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) to report a quarterly loss at US$1.36 per share on revenue of $869.99 million before the opening bell.
Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) shares dropped over 4% in pre-market as it posted better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter but sales missed expectations and the clothing and footwear company also lowered its sales forecast for the full year.
Oil prices are on the up as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at US$76.70 per barrel on Friday, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $73.43 a barrel. The closely-watched Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1pm today ET.
Data on new US home sales for August will be released at 10am ET.