Stock futures are little changed after major averages suffer worst day since June
U.S. stock index futures were little changed Tuesday after the market’s worst day since June and as investors braced for a hawkish message from the Federal Reserve. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35 points, or 0.09%, while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.07% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.01%. Traders are coming off a downbeat session, as a summer rally fizzled out amid mounting rate hike concerns, and the 10-year Treasury yield continued to climb above 3%. The Dow dropped more than 600 points Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell more than 2% each. Those were the biggest one-day drops for the Dow and S&P 500 since June 16. The Nasdaq suffered its worst session since June 28. “This bear in our view has one last act,” read a note from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Lisa Shalett. The head of the global investment committee said Wall Street is underestimating inflation, growing recession risks, and earnings expectations that will have to come down at some point. Palo Alto Networks surged in the premarket on the back of strong quarterly results, while Zoom Video shares slumped after the video conferencing company lowered its full-year forecast. Asia-Pacific markets traded lower on Tuesday after major indexes on Wall Street finished their worst day since June amid mounting rate hike concerns. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.78% in the final hour trade. The Shanghai Composite closed fractionally lower at 3,276.22 and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.404% to 12,455.15. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.19% to 28,452.75, and the Topix traded 1.06% lower to end the session at 1,971.44. South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.1% at 2,435.34. Oil rose $1 a barrel on Tuesday as tight supply moved back into focus as a result of Saudi Arabia floating the idea of OPEC+ output cuts to support prices and the prospect of a drop in U.S. crude inventories. The Saudi energy minister said OPEC+ had the means to deal with challenges including cutting production, state news agency SPA said on Monday, citing comments Abdulaziz bin Salman made to Bloomberg in an interview. Global benchmark Brent crude gained $1.46, or 1.5%, to $97.91 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.66, or 1.84%, to trade at $92.02. Gold prices on Tuesday were flat after hitting a near one-month low in the previous session, as investors were caught between worries of a recession and hawkish central bank views ahead of the Jackson Hole conference this week. Having slipped in the last six sessions, spot gold eked out a marginal gain to trade at $1,735.89 per ounce. Prices had dipped to $1,727.01 on Monday, their lowest since July 27. U.S. gold futures also edged 0.2% higher to $1,752.00.