On Tuesday, stocks exhibited indecisiveness at the market’s opening and continued to deliver an underwhelming performance into the afternoon session. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fluctuated around the breakeven mark throughout the day, although the S&P 500 has more decisively shifted into negative territory.As of now, the Nasdaq has increased by 7.22 points, or less than 0.1%, to 16,893.82. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has declined by 9.05 points, or 0.2%, to 5,461.00, and the Dow has dropped by 265.89 points, or 0.7%, to 40,563.70.The erratic trading on Wall Street can be attributed to traders anticipating the release of crucial inflation data in the upcoming days.The Labor Department is slated to release its reports on consumer price inflation and producer price inflation for August on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.It is anticipated that these reports will indicate a deceleration in consumer and producer price growth compared to the same month last year.This data could influence the forecast for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.While it is widely expected that the Fed will begin lowering interest rates next week, there is speculation regarding the magnitude of the rate cut.According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, there is currently a 67 percent probability that the Fed will reduce rates by 25 basis points and a 33 percent likelihood of a 50 basis point cut.Sector NewsMost major sectors are exhibiting only minor movements today, contributing to the broader market’s overall lackluster performance.However, the banking sector is experiencing significant weakness, with the KBW Bank Index plummeting by 3.4 percent to its lowest intraday level in nearly a month.A sharp decline in crude oil prices is also impacting energy stocks, causing the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index to fall by 3.2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.Airline, brokerage, and computer hardware stocks are also showing notable declines, while software stocks have demonstrated a robust uptick, pushing the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 1.1 percent.Oracle (ORCL) has been a major driver behind the software sector’s gains, surging by 11.5 percent after reporting better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and announcing a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services.Other MarketsIn overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region had a mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.3 percent.Conversely, the major European markets all moved lower. Germany’s DAX Index declined by 1.0 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.8 percent, and France’s CAC 40 Index decreased by 0.2 percent.In the bond market, treasuries are continuing their upward trend from the past several sessions. Consequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves inversely to its price, has decreased by 4.0 basis points to 3.659 percent.The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
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