(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities slumped after Chairman Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve’s upbeat economic forecast already reflected both fiscal stimulus and progress with vaccinations. Oil turned lower after a rally spurred by the blockage of the Suez Canal.
Energy and industrial companies were among the worst performers. The Russell 2000 gauge of small-cap shares headed toward a correction, down about 10% from a bull-market peak reached just 10 days ago. Investors largely ignored data that showed weekly jobless claims falling more than forecast. Nike Inc. fell on concern the company risked a boycott in China over its practice of not sourcing cotton from the contentious Xinjiang region. U.S. benchmark 10-year yields were steady around 1.6%.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell below $60 a barrel, after adding almost 6% Wednesday. Tugs and diggers are trying to dislodge the ship stuck for a third day in the Suez Canal, a critical waterway for trade.
U.S. stocks have come off record highs as investors assess the latest progress and setbacks in the fight against Covid-19, as well as the outlook for economic growth and inflation. Focus is also on Thursday’s seven-year Treasury auction, as poor demand for this maturity at last month’s sale helped trigger a global selloff in government debt and interest-rate sensitive stocks.
“The markets are stuck in a lull where they are still taking some direction from the move in interest rates,” said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors. “Markets are kind of in this tug of war where we’ve priced in a lot of the good news. At this point we’re trying to get some more news globally that will be the next catalyst.”
In Europe, stocks slumped, with concern over lockdown extensions and vaccine hiccups keeping cyclical shares on the back foot, with energy firms and banks among the biggest losers.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin fell as much as 6.7%, reaching the lowest intraday price since March 15.
These are some key events to watch this week:
The U.S. Treasury auctions seven-year debt.U.S. personal income and spending data on Friday.
These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.3% as of 9:41 a.m. New York time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.7%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.1%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.6%.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.The euro was little changed at $1.1809.The British pound gained 0.2% to $1.3717.The Japanese yen weakened 0.3% to 109.03 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 1.59%.Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.39%.Britain’s 10-year yield sank five basis points to 0.71%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.3% to $59.17 a barrel.Gold was little changed at $1,734.89 an ounce.
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