Financial markets modestly lower before US trading opens
Wall Street premarket trading pointed to a modestly lower open Tuesday on the heels of the market’s worst trading month since early in the pandemic
NEW YORK — Wall Street premarket trading pointed to a modestly lower open Tuesday on the heels of the market’s worst trading month since early in the pandemic.
As traders prepare for another busy day of corporate earnings releases, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell about 0.1% less than two hours before the opening bell. ExxonMobil, Alphabet, General Motors and Starbucks are among those reporting quarterly financial results on Tuesday.
Shares in Europe made gains while many markets in China and elsewhere in Asia were closed for Lunar New Year holidays.
France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX both jumped 1.1% in early trading, while Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.9%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%.
Wall Street closed a tumultuous January wracked by worries that interest-rate hikes will make everything in markets more challenging. Shares closed higher on Monday but still logged their worst monthly loss since the pandemic broke nearly two years ago.
The S&P 500 fell 5.3% in January, its worst month since falling 12.5% in March 2020, when it plunged after the pandemic suddenly shut down the global economy. The Dow shed 3.3% in January while the Nasdaq declined 9%.
The Federal Reserve is about to start withdrawing the tremendous stimulus it’s pumped into the economy and markets since the pandemic began in 2020. Ultra-low rates and other stimulus helped markets recover from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic, and then supported stunning gains.
Investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates in March to fight inflation. But markets have gyrated amid uncertainty about how sharply and how quickly the Fed will move.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 60 cents to $87.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.33 to $88.15 per barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell to $88.52 per barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 114.63 Japanese yen from 115.13 yen. The euro cost $1.1266, up from $1.1236.
