U.S. Stock Market indexes -- Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow Jones -- futures continue to hobble after Friday's heavy losses. Wall Street investors will be hoping that trading will begin in green note on Monday even as nine-week winning streak ended in heavy tech selling, while Israeli strikes on Beirut sent oil and the dollar higher.
Oil Prices, US Dollar
In currency trade the dollar was firm and holding above 160 yen and pushed the Australian dollar to $0.7038. The euro hovered at $1.1518.
The Mideast situation also remains delicate, and Brent crude futures were up about 2.6 per cent to $95.45 a barrel on Monday morning (Asian time) after an Israeli attack on Beirut prompted Iran to direct a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets. OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to the fourth increase in its oil output targets in as many months.
Tech Stocks
Tech stocks in the U.S. cratered on Friday after a hot May jobs report fueled fears of a hawkish policy pivot from the Federal Reserve. Wall Street's main indices all saw significant losses, with the Nasdaq plunging more than four percent, the S&P 500 more than two percent and the Dow more than one percent.
The Nasdaq had dropped 4.2% on Friday, with selling concentrated in semiconductor stocks after a hot jobs report ramped up expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, slamming the brakes on what has been a sparkling AI-led rally.
After pushing equity markets to record highs this year, technology firms are facing selling pressure on concerns that the eye-watering sums pumped into AI may have been overdone.
Nvidia Stocks, Broadcom Shares
The so-called "Magnificent Seven," which includes AI players Nvidia, Google-parent Alphabet and Meta, closed lower. Meta's stock was also weighed down by reports the company was considering a stock offering to raise tens of billions of dollars in funding for its AI push.
US chipmaker Broadcom also sparked concern this week after its revenue forecast for the third quarter undershot expectations. Broadcom's shares fell almost eight percent on Friday, and those of rival Micron Technology dropped more than 13 percent.
Bitcoin Price, U.S. Treasury Yield
Two-year Treasury yields rose more than 11 basis points on Friday and benchmark 10-year Treasury futures were about five ticks lower early on Monday morning in Asia.
Last week, bitcoin notched its heaviest weekly drop since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022, falling about 16%. It was hovering just shy of $63,000 on Monday.
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