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Troubles in the US banking system sends stocks, treasuries, and oil tumbling, Bitcoin and ether fall amid Silvergate liquidation, GM offers buyouts to salaried workers, unemployment biggest rise in 5 months.
Stock futures, US treasuries, and oil futures were all down on Friday amid worries of trouble in the US banking industry, as investors digested a rise in unemployment and awaited crucial jobs data due later.
Shares of US banks, including Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & Co, traded about half a percent lower in New York premarket trading, trimming earlier hefty losses, Yahoo Finance reported.
S&P 500 futures slid -11 points or -0.28%, while Dow Jones futures tumbled -108 points or -0.33%, and NASDAQ futures inched down -1.5 points or -0.01%.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down -0.103 to yield at 3.82 percent, and the 2-Year Treasury note also slid -0.107 for a yield of 4.79%, as of 8:18 AM EST on Friday, after sitting around 5 percent a day earlier.
In oil futures, WTI crude was down -1.03% and trading at $74.94 a barrel, while Brent crude slid -0.80% and trading at $80.94 a barrel as of 8:20 AM ET.
Analysts predicted a 5% weekly drop in WTI and Brent crude on U.S. rate hike jitters, Reuters reported.
Cryptocurrency prices fell beginning on Thursday after go-to crypto bank Silvergate announced a liquidation. More than $70 billion in value was wiped off the crypto market in 24 hours. Bitcoin dropped 8% and fell below $20,000 on Friday, sitting around $19,900.28 in the early hours and hitting a near two-month low. Ether was also down more than 8% at around $1,400.63, CNBC reported.
General Motors announced it will offer voluntary buyouts to a “majority” of its salaried white-collar employees in the US and some global executives, according to a letter sent to workers Thursday by the company’s CEO. The latest move comes after GM announced last week it would terminate about 500 salaried positions globally, CNBC reported.
The Detroit automaker said the move will cut some $2 billion in costs over the next two years as the company transitions to electric vehicles, NPR reported. Buyouts will be offered to salaried employees with at least five years of time at GM, as well as to global executives with at least two years.
Applications for unemployment benefits saw the biggest jump in five months, while layoffs remained historically low, according to the latest data from the Labor Department. On Thursday, the applications report ending March 4 showed applications for unemployment rose by 21,000 to 211,000 from 190,000 the previous week, and marked the first time in eight weeks claims came in above 200,000, ABC reported. The jobs report showing the unemployment level is expected on Friday, and unemployment is predicted to remain around 3.4%, a 54-year low, CNN reported.
