The S&P 500 drifted lower on Thursday as rising yields took centre stage, suggesting the index is likely to break its eight-day winning streak.
The benchmark index was trading down 0.6%, while the Nasdaq was 0.7% weaker. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 200 points lower.
All S&P sectors were trading in negative territory, with the worst performing sectors including Healthcare down 2%, Consumer Discretionary down 1.9% and Real Estate down 1.5%. The best performing sectors included Energy down 0.09% and Industrials down 0.2%.
Stocks hit session lows after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated more work may need to be done to bring down inflation, although the recent slowdown in pace has been an encouraging sign for policymakers.
The move lower in stocks also coincided with an uptick in yields. A U.S. Treasury auction earlier in the session also contributed to that. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up more than 12 basis points at 4.632%. The 30-year bond rate jumped nearly 14 basis points to 4.792%.
In company news Disney rose 7% after reporting better-than-expected profit and expanding its cost-cutting plan, while Arm dipped 6% following its first quarterly report as a public company. MGM Resorts dipped about 2% even after posting strong results and a new share buyback program.
Shares in Telsa tumbled after HSBC initiated coverage of the EV maker with a “reduce” rating. Nvidia rallied after a Chinese report that the company plans to release three new artificial intelligence chips for China.
Oil edged higher as Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Thursday said oil consumption remains healthy and blamed speculators for the recent drop in prices. Markets are increasingly of the view that Saudi Arabia will extend its unilateral 1 mb/d cut well into 1Q′24.
Iron ore traded in Singapore closed above US$125 a tonne. The outlook for the steel-making material has improved as China continues to indicate it is moving to stabilise the real estate sector.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:30 AM was buying 63.72 US cents.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE gained 0.73 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.81 per cent, and Paris closed 1.13 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 1.49 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.33 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.03 per cent higher.
The Australian share market closed 0.28 per cent higher at 7015.
Ex-dividends
Janus Henderson (ASX:JHG) is paying 61.5919 cents unfranked
SSR Mining Inc (ASX:SSR) is paying 8.2912 cents unfranked
Dividends payable
Newmark Property REIT (ASX:NPR)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
