por admin » Mar Sep 06, 2022 11:12 am
Dow slips in volatile post-Labor Day trading as investors assess strong data, surging rates
Carmen Reinicke
Samantha Subin
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U.S. stocks whiplashed on Tuesday in a volatile trading session at the start of the holiday-shortened week as investors weighed what strong economic data and rising rates mean for the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening campaign.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points, or 0.05%, climbing off lows of the day boosted by defensive stocks such as Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. The S&P 500 rose 0.06% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.21%.
At the same time, bond yields surged, adding to the rout in stocks. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury jumped as much as 0.162 percentage point before settling up 0.13 percentage point as investors sold bonds. Yields move inversely to prices.
The moves came after August ISM data Tuesday morning was stronger than expected, coming in at 56.9 versus expectations of 55.5. The report follows Friday’s jobs release, which also beat Wall Street’s expectations, showing a more solid U.S. economy than anticipated.
Both reports come ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, where they’re expected to raise interest rates again. Better-than-expected economic data may mean that the central bank continues to act aggressively in hiking interest rates.
On Friday, the major averages closed out their third negative week in a row. The Nasdaq Composite posted its first six-day losing streak since 2019, ending the session 1.3% lower, while the Dow erased a 370-point gain on Friday to close about 1.1% lower. The S&P shed 1.1% to its lowest close since July.
“Bulls hoping for a rebound will be doing so during a shortened Labor Day week that historically has paralleled September and its track record of underperformance: Losses have been slightly less frequent over the past three decades, but volatility has been higher,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading for E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
In the holiday-shortened week, investors are looking ahead to speeches from Federal Reserve presidents and a fresh rate hike decision from the European Central Bank due out later this week.
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Falling gas prices show inflation is coming down, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee says
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Falling gas and housing prices, give us confidence inflation is falling, says Fundstrat’s Lee
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee believes that falling gas prices show that inflation is coming down.
“I think the bar is pretty high for investors and markets and the Fed to be convinced inflation is breaking. I mean part of it is because inflation is so uncertain that the market wants to have comfort that it’s truly vanquished before they think the Fed can even consider being a little easier,” Lee said Tuesday on CNBC’s “TechCheck.”
Still, Lee said investors should be encouraged by gasoline prices that are falling “like a rock” in a way they hadn’t in prior inflationary periods. The investor also pointed to softening housing data, and believes that there is more weakness in the job market than is immediately apparent.
“I think investors should be encouraged that [rising prices] hit some sort of wall. We think it’s actually going to fall pretty quick,” he added.