U.S. stocks have opened sharply lower for a second straight day as market volatility in China and a relentless slide in oil prices unnerved investors.
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Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index SPX fell -2.37% to 1,943.09 and the Nasdaq Composite was down -3.03% or 146.34 points, to close at 4,689.43.
Shares of Apple were down 1.9 percent at $98.75, following reports of slowing shipments of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. “Given the extreme risk-off nature of our first four days of trading this year, bargain hunters may be enticed to step into the market”.
After the rout in the Chinese stock market Thursday, Chinese authorities suspended the new trading “circuit breakers” that are meant to damp panic but which many market-watchers argue sowed more panic, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua. Technology stocks have been some of the hardest hit.
US stocks briefly extended losses in afternoon trading after the Federal Reserve published its minutes from the last policy meeting in December.
But U.S. investors seem to be reluctant to jump back into the market ahead of the big monthly U.S.jobs report that’s due on Friday.
The year on Wall Street began Monday with a furious market selloff, and the Dow ultimately dropped more than 250 points, or 1.47 percent, by Wednesday’s closing bell.
In new day trading the focus will be on the yuan fixing and the China stock market. Crude oil also plummeted to the lowest level in more than 12 years.
Treasury prices rose in a global flight to safety, although the gain for the benchmark 10-year note was slim, with the ticking down 2 bps to 2.15%.
Billionaire investor George Soros, speaking at an economic forum in Sri Lanka, drew similarities between the present environment and the financial crash of 2008.
Investors are nervous after the Chinese central bank moved to weaken the country’s currency, the yuan, for the eighth day running, sparking fears of a currency war.
“I hope we do not see the same like in August”, said Christian Zogg, head of equity and fixed income at LLB Asset Management in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Asian markets ended the session mostly higher.
The report has brought mostly good news in recent months.
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No-farm payrolls surged in December and unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent. Dow member Chevron lost 3.5 per cent while mid-sized producers Apache and Anadarko Petroleum shed 5.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent, respectively.
