U.S. Equity Futures Hover Amid Dollar’s Surge and Fed Rate Hike Fears
On Tuesday, U.S. equity futures exhibited a mixed performance, influenced by the strengthening dollar and concerns surrounding potential Fed interest rate hikes, alongside surging Treasury bond yields.
The U.S. dollar index, measuring the greenback against six major global currencies, saw an overnight gain of 0.13%, reaching 107.047. It inched closer to its highest levels since November of the previous year.
These movements followed statements made by Federal Reserve officials, including Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who stressed the necessity of raising interest rates to curb inflation in the robust U.S. economy.
Mester expressed, “I suspect we may well need to raise the fed funds rate once more this year and then hold it there for some time as we accumulate more information on economic developments and assess the effects of the tightening in financial conditions that has already occurred,” during a public event in Cleveland.
The CME Group’s FedWatch tool currently indicates a 25.7% likelihood of a quarter-point rate hike at the conclusion of the Fed’s upcoming two-day policy meeting on November 1. The odds of a December hike, whether a quarter or half point, stand at just under 45%.
Meanwhile, Treasury bond yields continued to rise, following the most significant one-day increase in nearly a month on Monday. Benchmark 10-year notes reached a new 2007 high of 4.702%, and 2-year notes hovered just below 5.1%.
These pronounced upward shifts, coupled with the hawkish rhetoric from Fed officials, place considerable focus on this week’s job market data. Investors are keen to discern if labor market tightness will fuel inflation pressures in the final months of the year.
Key economic events this week include the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs openings report, scheduled for release today at 10:00 am, ADP’s monthly employment report on Wednesday at 8:15 am, weekly jobless claims on Thursday at 8:30 am, and the crucial September non-farm payrolls report ahead of the opening bell on Friday.
As Wall Street prepares to kick off the trading day, S&P 500 futures indicate a modest 4-point gain at the opening bell, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures suggest a 22-point uptick. Nasdaq futures show a slight 4-point increase.
In international markets, the strengthening dollar has contributed to global stock market pressures, with the MSCI World index sliding 0.3% to a four-month low. The Asia ex-Japan benchmark experienced a significant 1.4% decline.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 1.64% lower as the yen reached a multi-year low of 149.87 against the dollar. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki discussed the possibility of currency intervention.
Japan resorted to purchasing yen to stabilize the currency in international markets, marking the first intervention in 24 years since it dipped below the 145 mark in September of the previous year.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 opened 0.3% lower in Frankfurt, while the FTSE 100 saw a 0.28% rise as the pound depreciated to 1.2067 against the U.S. dollar.
