Stock market today: Wall Street points lower after Fitch downgrades U.S. government’s credit rating

TOKYO –

Wall Street was poised to open decrease Wednesday after the United States authorities’s credit standing was lower for simply the second time in historical past.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials slipped 0.3 per cent earlier than the bell and futures for the S&P 500 tumbled 0.5 per cent.

Investor optimism was harm by Fitch Ratings downgrading the U.S. authorities’s credit standing, citing rising debt on the federal, state, and native ranges. The score was lower Tuesday one notch to AA+ from AAA, the best attainable score. In 2011, the scores company Standard & Poor’s stripped the U.S. of its prize AAA score.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated the transfer by Fitch was primarily based on outdated information, noting the U.S. financial system has quickly recovered from the pandemic recession.

“Some negativity was permeating across Asian equity markets mid-week thanks to Fitch downgrade news. While not a game-changer, news that Fitch downgraded the U.S. credit rating by a notch was enough to put risk appetite on the back foot, as evidenced by the red numbers across the board,” stated Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

While inflation has come down because the summer time and the U.S. financial system has remained remarkably resilient, critics say it is no assure inflation will proceed to chill on the similar price.

Markets are additionally absorbing the most recent company earnings studies. Shares of the relationship app Match rose after it beat analysts’ gross sales and revenue forecasts on a powerful quarter from Tinder.

CVS shares rose practically two per cent in premarket after the retail pharmacy chain beat expectations, whilst earnings sank. Starbucks dipped 1.6 per cent after it missed gross sales targets.

Apple and Amazon report Thursday.

In Europe at noon, Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped one per cent, Germany’s DAX slid 0.8 per cent and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 per cent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dove 2.3 per cent to complete at 32,707.69. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3 per cent to 7,354.60. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.9 per cent to 2,616.47. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 2.5 per cent to 19,517.38, whereas the Shanghai Composite misplaced 0.9 per cent to three,261.69.

In power buying and selling, benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $81.92 a barrel. Brent crude, the worldwide commonplace, gained 49 cents to $85.40 a barrel.

In foreign money buying and selling, the U.S. greenback edged right down to 142.82 Japanese yen from 142.83 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.0982.

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Kageyama reported from Tokyo; Ott reported from Washington.