US stocks fell before the bell on Friday, on track for weekly losses as investors took on board Chair Jerome Powell’s signal that the Federal Reserve won’t hurry to make interest-rate cuts.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) dropped over 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) slid roughly 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) led declines, with futures down 0.8%.
Powell’s hawkish comments are casting a pall on markets as the initial optimism for President-elect Donald Trump’s policies starts to wear off. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) has already reversed one-third of its post-election rally, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) is shaping up for a weekly loss of almost 1%.
Wall Street is back to puzzling over the Fed’s path next year, a question already muddied by this week’s inflation prints. As of Friday, traders are pricing in 62% odds of a rate cut at its December policy meeting, compared with 72% the day before, per CME FedWatch tool. Bets on a January easing stand at 73%, versus the previous 81%.
Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Data on retail sales in October due later Friday may feed into those calculations as a glimpse into the state of the consumer. The report is the last of its kind before the start of the holiday shopping season.
At the same time, investors kept a watchful eye on Trump’s preparations for power, after vaccine stocks fell amid reports Robert F. Kennedy Jr will be named top health official. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon made it clear Thursday he won’t be joining the new president’s team.
Meanwhile, shares of Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) and Pool Corp. (POOL) popped in premarket after filings showed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought the stocks.
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