Stocks sell-off continues, dollar gains- Market update

US stocks opened sharply lower on Monday as sellers continued to dictate sentiment. The negative move comes after Friday’s sell-off, a scenario that sees Wall Street currently tracking its worst performance since March 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 450 points, dropping by 1.5% to extend losses seen over the past week. The S&P 500 also fell, losing by more than 2.1% to reach a 52-week low of 4,030, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.1%.

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All the sectors are trading in the red, with energy (-5%), tech (-3%) and consumer discretionary (-2.8%) leading the losses.

European shares were also in the red on Monday. The Stoxx 600 was 2% lower while the FTSE 100 had shed 1.59% in late afternoon deals. The French CAC was down 2.1% and Germany’s DAX was shedding 1.2%.

Dollar soars

Elsewhere in the market, the dollar index rose to 104.18 against a basket of six major currencies to hit its highest level in 20 years. In Treasury yields, gains pushed the benchmark US 10-year yield above 3.192%.

Oil prices also fell, with WTI crude down $2.54 at $107.23 a barrel and Brent crude shedding $2.39 to hover around $109.94 a barrel. Gold was struggling near $1,864.1 per ounce as a surging dollar hurt the precious metal.

In crypto, Bitcoin was fluctuating in and around the $33,000 mark having tested lows of $32,800.

US inflation data out this week

Losses in the stock market are happening amid new worries over an economic slowdown in China and concerns over the direction of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Also this week, investors might be looking to gauge the potential impact of new higher inflation data for the US might have on Fed talk. The US central bank hiked interest rates by 50 basis points last week and there are suggestions that higher inflation data out on Wednesday could add to the Fed’s aggressiveness.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for April will be released on Wednesday, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) data scheduled for Thursday.