Stock futures soar higher after technical sell-off

Stock futures rose to stable Thursday evening after a tech-driven sell-off during the regular trading day. Contracts on the Nasdaq gained after the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.5% during the previous session.

Investors this week weighed the signs of continued price pressure in the US economy against claims by key central bank officials that the Federal Reserve is ready to take action to curb inflation.

During Thursday’s hearing from Fed Governor Lael Brainard before the Senate Banking Committee, she suggested the central bank could begin raising interest rates — a move that would tighten financial conditions and help reduce inflation.” once the asset purchase is discontinued”. The Federal Reserve will currently end the tapering process of its asset purchases in March.

“What we’re seeing now is a price revision of the markets, given the expected rate hikes… That will be the catalyst that drives the market down,” Loreen Gilbert, CEO of WealthWise Financial told Yahoo Finance Live Thursday. “It’s going to be a wild ride.”

And the plethora of recent inflation data has so far helped bolster the case for a near-term change of course in monetary policy. many economists suggested. Thursday’s Producer Price Index (PPI) showed the largest annual increase in wholesale prices on record, in data dating back to 2010, even as monthly price increases eased slightly. And this report came just a day after the December consumer price index (CPI) showed the largest rise in inflation since 1982. Many economists suggested that inflationary pressures would persist for at least the early months of this year before gradually easing.

“Two of the biggest things were the supply chain disruptions and the fiscal stimulus,” Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, told Yahoo Finance Live. “As the pandemic gets more under control this year, as the Omicron wave hopefully clears up, we’re likely to see supply chain disruptions go away, and then we don’t get more fiscal stimulus… We believe that will cause inflation over the course of the year.” coming down for years.”

Story continues

Rising prices also affect firms’ profits as labor costs rise. Of the nearly two dozen S&P 500 companies that reported fourth-quarter earnings results mid-week, 60% cited a negative effect of higher labor costs or deficits on revenue or profit, according to FactSet.

The quarterly earnings season is expected to accelerate on Friday as some of the country’s largest banks report results for the final months of 2021. black rock (BLK), Citi group (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC) are each set to deliver results before the market opens on Friday.

—

6:01 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures open slightly higher

Here’s where the markets traded Tuesday night:

• S&P 500 futures (ES = F): +4.25 points (+0.09%), to 4.656.25

• Dow futures (YM=F): +37 points (+0.1%), to 36,026.00

• Nasdaq futures (NQ = F): +18.75 points (+0.12%) to 15.509.00

—

Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, facebook, Instagram, flip board, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit