Stock Market News: Dow Set to Open Down as Israel-In Conflict, Port Strikes Weigh
Worries that Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts might not be as big as hoped and the threat of more violence in the Middle East was sending stocks lower early Thursday.
The ADP report on Wednesday showing private companies added the most jobs in three months in September raised concern that the Fed may not move as forcefully as hoped to get borrowing costs lower. The more influential non-farm payrolls report is due out Friday, which will add more color to the outlook.
At the same time, Israel is considering how to respond to a rocket attack by Iran earlier this week, while dockworkers in the U.S. continued to strike. All three factors played a part in dragging stocks down.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 150 points, or 0.4%. Futures for the S&P 500 also fell 0.4%, while contracts tied to the technology-heavy Nasdaq retreated 0.5%. All three indexes finished Wednesday little changed.
“Markets remained on edge over the last 24 hours,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid. “The stronger numbers in the ADP report led investors to dial back the chance of aggressive rate cuts over the coming months.”
That was reflected in bond yields, which rose as prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 3.808%, up from about 3.75% yesterday. The two-year note yield was at 3.662%, compared with 3.62%.