4.05pm: S&P 500 slides more than 1.5% to start the week
US stocks finished the trading session sharply lower as the 10-year Treasury yield rose above 2.78% to levels not seen since January 2019.
At the close, the Dow slipped 413 points to 34,308, while the S&P 500 eased 76 points at 4,413 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 299 points to 13,412.
Notable movers included shares of AT&T Inc, which climbed more than 7% after JPMorgan analysts said they liked the company’s decision to spin off its old WarnerMedia to merge with Discovery, giving its stock an ‘Overweight’ rating and saying its shares are now trading at a discount.
12:05pm: Wall Street seeing heavy bleeding
Wall Street extended its losses at the midday point of Monday trading as technology, energy stocks underperformed and treasury yields continued to soar ahead of a busy week that features inflation data and the kickoff of earnings season.
At noon, the S&P 500 was down 1.2% at 4,435 points, while the Dow lost 0.5% at 34,359. The Nasdaq was seeing heavy bleeding, down 1.8% at 13,462 points after slumping nearly 4% last week for its worst performance since late January.
A busy few days ahead is keeping investors nervous, says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
“The prospect of a week of inflation data and central bank decisions, topped off by the beginning of US earnings season, has led to a broadly-risk averse day for global markets," Beauchamp said.
"Beleaguered global markets will hope that earnings from Thursday onwards provide some better news to support stocks, as at present investors appear to be retreating from risk once again in the absence of more encouraging headlines.”
11.05am: Proactive North America headlines:
Cloud DX (TSX-V:CDX, OTCQB:CDXFF) inks new chronic care management contract with primary care clinic in Pennsylvania
AIM ImmunoTech reports positive data from Phase 2a study evaluating Ampligen as part of a regimen treating colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver
Empower Clinics set for ribbon cutting and open house when it opens eighth TMC clinic in Greater Toronto area
Context Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CNTX) reveals “encouraging” preclinical data from two cancer-treating pipeline programs
SoLVBL Solutions announces the appointment of Jim Slinowsky as director of product development
DGTL Holdings taps new CFO; announces forgiveness of COVID-19 relief loans
Star Royalties subsidiary Green Star Royalties expands carbon credit partnership four-fold with Blue Source LLC by four fold
Milestone Scientific begins sales of its CompuFlo Epidural and CathCheck Verification System disposables to premier US hospital
District Metals commences drilling at its Tomtebo property in Sweden’s Bergslagen Mining District
Emmaus Life Sciences launches full-service telehealth solution with online access to sickle cell treatment Endari
Adastra announces submission of Medical Sales License application
Blue Sky Uranium resumes exploration drilling at targets near its Ivana deposit in Argentina
Argentina Lithium & Energy enters into option agreement to earn 100% interest in Salar de Antofalla mine concessions
Tiidal Gaming announces uplisting to OTCQB Venture Market under ticker symbol TIIDF
Kovo HealthTech on growth fast-track helping US healthcare providers streamline digital medical billing
Electra Battery remains on schedule to commission North America's only cobalt sulfate refinery in December 2022
enCore Energy highlights potential to expand Rosita South resource in Texas after latest drilling
Thor Explorations says Segilola Gold Mine in Nigeria continued operating at a steady state in March 2022
Xigem provides update on Cylix Data subsidiary and status of other strategic initiatives
Trust Stamp (NASDAQ:IDAI, EURONEXT:AIID) announces winners of Trusted Rwanda Hackathon
9.47am: US stocks start week in red
US stocks started the new week in the red, as expected, as investors fret about geopolitical events and inflation and interest rates continue to head north.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 108 points at 34,612.
The S&P 500 lost almost 33 points at 4,455.
The tech laden Nasdaq exchange is down 193 points to stand at 13,519.
It comes as US Treasury yields (the amount the government spends to borrow) hit a new three-year high
On Sunday evening, the 10-year note hit 2.7741% - its highest for around three years.
On the data front this week, traders will be eying the consumer price index inflation for March due out on Tuesday and the producer price index on Wednesday.
6:30am: Softer start predicted for Wall Street
US stocks are poised to open lower in what is expected to be a busy week with geopolitical concerns and economics as well as earnings data likely to dominate sentiment.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is well into its second month and a ceasefire still seems a distant prospect. Against this backdrop, investors fear that economic growth will slow alongside a rise in inflationary pressures.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.08% in Monday pre-market trading, while those for the S&P 500 were 0.36% lower and contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 shed 0.79%.
“The geopolitical uncertainty is still on traders' dashboard, and they will be watching the meeting between the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who will meet President Putin in Moscow today. The hope is once again to see some more peaceful talk,” said Naeem Aslam Chief Market Analyst at avatrade.com.
There is also much for investors to consider as the US earnings season starts.
“Traders are likely to be on the edge because we have the US banks kick-starting the first quarter's earnings,” said Aslam.“Traders would be focused on two aspects when it comes to bank earnings; they would like to know what these Wall Street giants think of the Fed's current monetary policy stance. A higher interest rate environment must add more value to their profit margins. These two important factors are likely to govern their price action this week.”
In March, the US rate-setting body raised interest for the first time since 2018. The minutes of that meeting, released last week, signaled that 50 basis point increases may be at hand.
US inflation data for March are due on Tuesday and will be closely watched.
“Inflation is already running way too hot. If the actual number comes even hotter than the forecast, we are likely to see much higher volatility in the equity, forex, and fixed-income markets. Traders are highly likely to be spooked by a strong inflation number as that will confirm that the Fed is more likely to increase the interest rate by 50 basis points rather than 25 basis points,” said Aslam.
Elsewhere, Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 0.2% at $100.412 while WTI futures were also 0.2% lower at $95.80.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com