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Dow falls over 250 points as stocks plunge – US retail sales make biggest drop in a year, -Global oil demand could hit record high as China reopens – US producer price index dips lowest since start of pandemic
Stock futures were trading lower on Thursday as losses built from the previous session amid recession and interest rate fears.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial average fell 277 points or 0.8%. S&P 500 futures shed 0.8%, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1%, CNBC reported.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 1.56 percent, its worst day since December 15, while the Dow tumbled by more than 613 points or 1.81%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 1.24%, snapping a 7-day streak of gains. Shares of bank stocks slid, including JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
Shares of Procter & Gamble dropped roughly 2% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company reported falling profits and revenue, as higher prices failed to offset declining sales volume, CNBC reported.
The benchmark US 10-Year Treasury Note was up +0.029 to yield at 3.404% as of 8:33 AM EST.
US retail sales declined in December by their highest margin in a year, driven by significant decreases and purchases of motor vehicles and numerous other goods, as it positions consumer spending and the overall US economy on a weaker growth path moving into 2023, Yahoo Finance reported. The latest numbers marked the second straight month of decline for retail sales, while at the same time, manufacturing output recorded its biggest drop in nearly two years in December. Monthly producer prices also tumbled.
Experts say the signs of weakening demand and subsiding inflation are likely to encourage the Federal Reserve to further scale back its pace of interest-rate increases next month.
Industry experts expect the global demand for oil to hit its highest level ever this year as China reopens its economy. According to the latest monthly report by the International Energy Agency, China’s reopening could increase oil demand by 1.9 million barrels per day, reaching a global demand record of 101.7 million barrels per day, CNN reported.
In oil markets on Thursday, WTI crude was down -0.28 % at $79.26 a barrel, while Brent crude was down -0.16% at $84.84 per barrel.
US producer prices fell in December by their lowest margin since the start of the pandemic as they extended a months-long pullback due to inflationary pressures and giving the Federal Reserve room to slow the pace of interest-rate hikes, Yahoo Finance reported. The producer price index for final demand fell by 0.5% in December, the highest percentage since April 2020, and was up 6.2% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday.
