Wall Street tracks toward losses again as sellers take profits early in 2024
Wall Street was poised to open with losses again on Wednesday, one day after markets kicked off the new year giving back some of last year's big gains.
Futures for the S&P 500 moved 0.4% lower before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 0.3%.
Investors are watching for the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting later in the day, hoping for signs the central bank will move ahead with interest rate cuts in coming months.
That optimism fueled markets late in 2023 as the Fed declined to raise rates at three meetings in a row with the economy showing continued strength as inflation retreated.
Figures due out later Wednesday will show how many job openings U.S. employers were advertising at the end of November, data that the Federal Reserve follows closely. Friday will bring the U.S. government's monthly tally of job growth across the country.
In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX tumbled 1% and in Paris, the CAC 40 slid 1.5%. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.6%.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 16,646.41, dragged lower by a 2% drop in technology shares. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2% to 2,967.25.
Prices of Chinese gaming companies rose, with Tencent Holdings and Netease both adding more than 1% following local reports that a senior official responsible for overseeing China's gaming industry was dismissed after the release of draft regulations last month that spurred a meltdown in gaming stocks just days before Christmas.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.4% to 7,523.20 as regulators kept a short-selling ban in place.
Bangkok's SET lost 0.3% and India's Sensex was down 0.7%.
Japanese markets remained closed for the New Year holiday.
In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 67 cents to $71.05 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 83 cents to $76.72 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 142.96 Japanese yen from 141.99 yen. The euro retreated to $1.0919 from $1.0936.
On Tuesday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite led the market lower with a drop of 1.6%.
Source: Associated Press
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