Last Updated: 4:00 PM EST
Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the red as the recent losing streak continues. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 1.24%, 0.58%, and 0.12%, respectively.
On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly report for the U.S. 30-Year mortgage rate. The mortgage rate increased to 7.13% compared to last week’s reading of 7.01%.
Despite the slight increase in rate, the number of mortgage applications increased week-over-week by 3.3%, following last week’s increase of 0.1%.
In addition, WTI crude oil fell in trading today after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly Crude Oil Inventories report, which measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by U.S. firms.
Compared to last week, inventories increased by 2.735 million barrels. For reference, economists were expecting an increase of 1.6 million barrels week-over-week. This means that demand was weaker than anticipated.
First Published: 5:05 AM EST
U.S. futures were higher on Wednesday morning as investors looked past Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s indication of a delay in the interest rate cut. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up by 0.02%, 0.2%, and 0.29%, respectively, at 4:30 a.m. EST, April 17.
In yesterday’s trading session, the Dow Jones index gained 0.17%. However, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite witnessed a third straight day of decline, closing lower by 0.21% and 0.12%, respectively. The decrease comes after Powell signaled a cautious stance on interest rate reductions until inflation shows significant improvement.
Apollo Global Management’s (APO) chief economist, Torsten Slok, believes that with no interest rate cuts in the near term, the U.S. stock market might lose momentum. He thinks that the Fed is looking to maintain elevated interest rates for a short period, perhaps one or two quarters, to achieve their desired economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, investors are gearing up for the important corporate earnings releases lined up for today. Abbott Laboratories (ABT), ASML Holding (ASML), Prologis (PLD), U.S. Bancorp (USB), and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) are among the companies scheduled to report quarterly numbers.
Moving on, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield was down at the time of writing, floating near 4.66%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended lower, hovering near $84.97 per barrel as of the last check, due to concerns over the economic outlook in China and the Fed’s plan to keep rates higher, which could negatively impact demand.
Elsewhere, European indices opened higher today as investors looked past Powell’s comments and higher-than-expected U.K. inflation data.
Asia-Pacific Markets Closed Mixed Today
Asia-Pacific markets ended the trading day on a mixed note. It should be noted that the Chinese markets closed higher, likely due to the positive sentiment from yesterday’s strong Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.02%. Similarly, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices rallied 2.14% and 2.48%, respectively. Nevertheless, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices declined by 1.32% and 1.26%, respectively.
Interested in more economic insights? Tune in to our LIVE webinar.
