The major stock indices in the United States went both ways today. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones weakened today, while the Nasdaq rose. Investors are bracing for a number of events this week, such as a new Treasury bond offering and the release of consumer price and producer price data. Then on Friday, earnings season unofficially kicks off, with banks like JPMorgan releasing results.
Navigating Market Swings
The Dow Jones index fell 157.85 points, or 0.42 percent, to 37,525.16 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.04 points, or 0.15 percent, to 4,756.50 points. The Nasdaq technology market index rose 13.94 points, or 0.09 percent, to 14,857.71 points.
Investors are assessing the timing and extent of interest rate cuts by the US central bank (Fed) this year ahead of inflation data. Expectations that the Fed could start cutting rates as early as March are slowly diminishing. Investors now give a 63.8 percent chance that the Fed will cut the key interest rate by at least a quarter percentage point in March. A week ago, that chance was as high as 79 percent.
Most of the 11 major sub-sectors of the S&P index fell, most notably energy. One of the three rising sectors was technology. Boeing shares weakened for the second consecutive session today due to the crash of an aircraft late last week, which is under investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Shares in networking products maker Juniper Networks, on the other hand, rose as Reuters, citing an informed source, said Hewlett Packard Enterprise is interested in buying it for USD 13 billion.
US Dollar Gains Ahead of Fed’s Rate Decision
The US dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies today. Traders are awaiting Thursday’s inflation report in the United States, which should indicate when the Fed is likely to cut interest rates.
The dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s performance against a basket of six leading global currencies, rose 0.3 percent to 102.53 points. The euro weakened 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.0931. The dollar rose 0.2 percent against the yen to JPY144.52. The euro-yen exchange rate was almost unchanged at JPY157.92.
Source: čtk
