*Boeing Co. lost 0.3%* even as the airline industry ordered the aeronautics company’s 737 MAX jet. On Wednesday, the Allegiant Travel _ airline, Allegiant Air, ordered 50 MAX jets with an option to purchase 50 more.
*Salesforce dropped 8.2%* following a downgrade from UBS. The firm also cut *Adobe, sending its shares down 7.1%. Among chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia both fell about 5%.*
*Honeywell and Caterpillar posted small gains amid the broader market sell-off. Fellow Dow member Pfizer gained 2% after analysts at Bank of America upgraded the stock.*
The first half of the year will be all about a strong U.S. growth outlook that should benefit cyclical stocks, but a sustained pullback with tech stocks is not justified given the Fed hasn’t officially started their interest rate hiking cycle.
The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP declined 1% and China’s CSI 300 _ fell 1%, while the Hang Seng Index HSI declined 1.6% in Hong Kong and Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK edged up 0.1%.
Gold futures GC00 closed higher, with the February contract rising 0.6% to settle at $1,825.10 an ounce on Comex, but retreated after the Fed minutes. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery CLG22, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.1%, to settle at $77.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bitcoin tumbled 4.5% to $44,100, the lowest since its early-December weekend flash crash. Gold was weaker and oil in New York pared back gains.
European markets are taking a breather after hitting record highs on Tuesday. Investors are waiting for the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes from its December meeting on Thursday.
*On the data front, new PMI (purchasing managers’ index) data showed the euro zone’s economy slowing in December amid surging Covid cases. The IHS Markit euro zone composite PMI came in at 53.3 last month, down from 55.4 in November.*
Stocks in Asia are set to open weaker after a selloff in U.S. technology shares and Treasuries accelerated once Federal Reserve minutes signaled interest-rate hikes may be more aggressive than many had expected.
Japan and Australian futures fell. The Nasdaq 100 tumbled the most since March as rising Treasury yields added to concerns over growth and profitability. The S&P 500 dropped as traders increased bets U.S. rates will increase at least three times this year.
*What to watch this week:*
Fed’s Bullard discusses the U.S. economy and monetary policy in an event on Thursday
Fed’s Daly discusses monetary policy on a panel Friday
ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday
*Currencies*
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1310
The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3549
The Japanese yen was little changed at 116.12 per dollar
*Bonds*
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 1.70%
Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to -0.08%
Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.09%
*Commodities*
West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,809.70 an ounce
By: via @AlliesFin Serve Stock Market
