US open: Stocks extend losses at the open

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 23 Sep, 2022

Updated : 15:00

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the red early on Friday amid concerns that the central bank's aggressive monetary policy may send the US economy into a recession.

As of 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.29% at 29,687.53, while the S&P 500 was 1.66% weaker at 3,695.72 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.76% softer at 10,872.01.

The Dow opened 389.15 points lower on Friday, extending losses recorded on Thursday as market participants continued to come to terms with the Federal Reserve's decision to hike interest rates yet again.

Major indices started off trading on Friday much the same as they ended the previous session, with investors growing fearful of the Fed's 75 basis points interest rate hike and its prediction that short-term rates will go as high as 4.4% by the end of 2022. Multiple central banks across the globe also followed suit, implementing marked hikes despite potential repercussions for their economies.

Also in focus, bond yields remained elevated early on Friday after the yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasury notes hit levels not seen since February 2011 and October 2007. The two-year note was slightly higher at 4.130% at the open, while the benchmark 10-year note sat at around 3.715%.

On the macro front, a flash reading of S&P Global's US manufacturing PMI edged higher to 51.8 in September, up from 51.5 in August to beat market forecasts for a reading of 51.1, but was still the second-lowest reading since July 2020. Elsewhere, the services PMI rose to 49.2 in September from 43.7 a month earlier, easily beating market expectations for a print of 45.0.

Still to come, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech at 1900 BST.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $270.24 0.41%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $0.00 0.00%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $87.44 -0.08%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $132.84 -0.42%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.40 -0.47%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $226.59 -0.51%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $246.65 -0.52%
3M Co. (MMM) $113.49 -0.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $135.42 -0.58%