Stock Market Live Updates: Wall St slides as economic data stokes inflation and interest rate worries

Stock market live updates: Asia stocks under pressure

Asian equity futures drifted lower as US shares fell following economic data that exceeded forecasts, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated for longer, per a Bloomberg report.

Contracts for stock benchmarks in Japan and Australia dropped, while those for Hong Kong equities were mostly flat. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to close lower for a second day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which is more sensitive to interest rate expectations, declined 0.9%. US futures were little changed in early Asian trading.

Treasuries also retreated, pushing yields higher. Two-year yields rose around six basis points to climb above 5%, while the 10-year rate rose two basis points. Australian bond yields followed Thursday, edging higher.

The Institute for Supply Management’s US services index for August reached 54.4, its highest monthly reading since February and one that topped all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. A reading above 50 denotes growth.

Stock market live updates: China’s Share of US Imports Falls to Lowest Since 2006

China’s share of US goods imports fell to the lowest level since 2006 in the 12 months through July, according to a new report by the US Census Bureau.

The share of imported merchandise coming from China was 14.6% on average over that period, the data published Wednesday showed.

That’s down from a peak of 21.8% in the 12 months through March 2018, just before former US President Donald Trump ramped up a trade war with the Asian country.

American companies have been reorganizing supply chains in recent years amid the US government’s attempts to reduce the economy’s dependence on China, as well as fragilities exposed by the pandemic, per a Bloomberg report.

Countries like Mexico and Vietnam have benefited from the shift, with Chinese exports to and foreign direct investment in those places also on the rise. Mexico’s share of US goods imports rose to 15% on average in the 12 months through July, the highest on record in 30 years of data.

India’s $775 billion stock boom at risk as small-caps overheat: report

The rally in Indian equities that has swelled the market’s total valuation by $775 billion in a little more than five months has been accompanied by a notable shift in investor preference to smaller stocks, per a Bloomberg report.

That poses risks as gauges of small and mid-cap shares show signs of overheating, and as the domestic economic outlook becomes more clouded ahead of national elections next year.

Smaller companies are seen benefiting more from the ongoing recovery in India’s capital expenditure. Larger stocks, in contrast, have been relatively restrained by worry over the impact of a possible global recession on the nation’s major IT firms, as well as fallout from a short-seller campaign against the sprawling group controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani.

The trend is the opposite to what has been seen in the US stock market, which has been driven by a handful of technology megacaps surging on the boom in artificial intelligence, leaving small caps in the dust.

Stock to buy today: BLS International Services (₹292.3)

The stock of BLS International Services has been in a steady uptrend since April. It bounced off the support at ₹150 and established a rally. While there have been minor corrections, the broader bull trend has stayed intact. That said, over the past two weeks, the price action was sluggish. That is, the stock was largely oscillating between ₹276 and ₹290.

Click here to read our complete report.

Day trading guide for September 07, 2023

Intraday supports, resistances for Nifty50 stocks:

Here are the intraday supports and resistances for widely traded stocks such as Reliance Industries, ITC, ONGC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, TCS and SBI

Stock market live updates: Wall St slides as economic data stokes inflation and interest rate worries

Wall Street’s three major averages closed lower on Wednesday with the Nasdaq’s 1% loss leading declines after stronger-than-expected services sector data fuelled concerns that still sticky inflation would mean that interest rates stay higher for longer, per a Reuters report.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday its non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 54.5 last month against expectations of 52.5, while a gauge of prices paid by service-sector businesses for inputs increased.

Traders were betting on a 93% chance that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged after its meeting on Sept. 20, while bets on another pause in November were around 57%, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed.

“The stronger-than-expected ISM services data shows that investors are still not very skilled at reading the post-pandemic tea leaves,” said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO’s family office in Minneapolis.