TSN - US Stocks On Track To Start Week Lower As Moody's Rating Outlook Cut Inflation Anxiety Dampen Risk Appetite | Benzinga
Stock futures point to a modestly lower open on Monday as the indices struggle to find a clear direction following the setback in late July. The rate uncertainty has remained an overhang on the market. Therefore, inflation data and speeches by Federal Reserve officials scheduled for the week could be the major market-moving events. Traders may remain apprehensive about buying stocks, especially ahead of these key catalysts and in the wake of last week’s gains.
Also causing some concerns would be rating agency Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating outlook from stable to negative, citing the growing apprehensions about the nation’s ability to manage its finances in an environment of escalating interest rates and substantial deficits.
Cues From Past Week’s Trading:
Despite Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish commentary on Thursday and lackluster reception to the Treasury’s 30-year bond auction, stocks managed to finish the week ended November 10 in the green. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 ended higher in all but one session of the week, although the declines on Thursday served to snap their longest winning streak since November 2021.
The Nasdaq Composite ended the week at its best level since September 14, and the broader S&P 500 gauge and the Dow Industrials finished at their highest levels since late September.
The week’s optimism reflected hopes that stars are aligning for the Fed to begin reversing its rate hikes, although Powell managed to dent some of the hopes with his comments at the IMF last week.
Small-cap stocks, however, came under intense selling, with the Russell 2,000 Index declining in all but one session of the week. The index is now down 3.18% for the year.
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