Wall Street was poised to open with losses again, one day after a retreat by investors dismayed over the Federal Reserve’s warning that still more interest rate hikes are in store following its latest increase. Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.9% early Thursday and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.7%. The declines followed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hike in its key short-term rate by half a percentage point, the seventh increase this year. Coming up later Thursday will be the government’s report on retail sales for November and the latest jobless claims data.
Wall Street was poised to open with losses again on Thursday, one day after a retreat by investors dismayed over the Federal Reserve’s warning that still more interest rate hikes are in store following its latest increase.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.9% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.7%.
The declines followed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hike in its key short-term rate by half a percentage point, the seventh increase this year. The Bank of England raised its main lending rate by a half-point Thursday morning and the European Central Bank is expected to follow suit later Thursday with a similar increase.
The U.S. will release Thursday its weekly report on unemployment benefits, along with retail sales data for November. U.S. consumer spending and employment remain strong, hindering the Fed’s fight against inflation, but helping protect the slowing economy from a possible recession.
The U.S. central bank’s increase in its key short-term rate by 0.50 percentage points Wednesday was expected.
