Stock futures down on Fed’s long-term plans

Stock futures were lower on Friday morning as investors looked for future job signals on how the Federal Reserve would fare over the long term. The stock follows a strong sell-off, with bank shares leading the way.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 237 points, or 0.74%
• S&P 500 futures fell 0.76%
• Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.57%

Unemployment figures are expected to remain unchanged from January, when it hit its lowest level since 1969 at 3.5%. Economists estimate hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.5% from the previous month, up 4.7% from 12 months ago.

Wall Street suffered a tough session, with all three major indices experiencing losses. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.06%, the S&P 500 was down 1.86%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 543.55 points, or 1.67%. This is the first time the Dow has been below its 200-day moving average since last November. All three indices are projected to end the week down more than 3.4%.

The announcement triggered a sell-off in the financial sector. Because investors will increasingly start to think that higher interest rates will cause banks to face credit losses due to borrower defaults. The financial sector was the worst performer among the S&P 500, falling 4.5% on its worst day since 2020.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones anticipate a 224,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls, signaling a slowdown from the exceptionally large gains of 517,000 seen in January.

Hong Kong stocks plummet

Asia-Pacific stocks fell as investors awaited the closely watched US Nonfarm Payrolls report in February, which will further determine the direction of the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.68% to 28,143.98, while the Topix lost 1.92% to 2,031.57, as the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady at -0 ,2%.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged, in line with expectations.

The central bank kept interest rates negative at -0.1% and reiterated its target to keep Japan’s 10-year bond yield near 0%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 3.08%, causing the biggest losses in the region. In China, the Shenzhen composite fell 1.3% and the Shanghai composite 1.5% as China’s Xi Jinping officially won a third term as president.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.27% to close at 7,144.6 as the sell-off on Wall Street continued, led by bank shares amid persistent challenges at Silicon Valley Bank. South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.02% at 2,394.58, while the Kosdaq was down 2.56% at 788.50.