U.S. stock markets came under pressure amid data on consumer inflation in the U.S., which reached 7.9 percent on an annualized basis. The biggest inflationary pressure in 40 years made the Fed’s interest rate hike this month imminent.
Markets expect the Fed to raise the discount rate by 25 basis points and the ECB to accelerate completion of the EU economic stimulus program. Although some industry analysts, given the CPI data, concede that the U.S. Central Bank may act “more aggressively.”
Dow Jones Turns Attention to Inflation
The Dow Jones Index was down 0.34% in trading. The S&P500 and Nasdaq broad market index are down 0.43% and 0.95%, respectively. Chevron (CVX) +2.73% and Walmart (WMT) +2.27% were better than the market in the major U.S. stock benchmark. Apple (AAPL), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Cisco (CSCO) traded worse, losing 2.72%, 2.57% and 2.16%, respectively.
Oil bulls took a pause
Oil continues to retreat from its local highs even though both the Arab Emirates and OPEC have refused to increase production to fill the gap in exports from Russia. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures reached $106 a barrel, losing almost 2.5%. North Sea benchmark Brent was down 1.6%, approaching $109.
SEC Threatens to Delist Chinese Companies
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) demanded access to the audit documents of Chinese technology corporations. In case of refusal, the U.S. regulator threatened to delist on the U.S. stock exchanges.
The Dow Jones felt an 8% inflation. The SEC hit China, the Hang Seng lost more than 3%. Photo: CNBC
The Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) crashed nearly 9% on this background. At the same time, the composite Hang Seng (HSI) lost 3.2%. Actions of the SEC increased pressure on the already shaky position of the Chinese stock market, caused by geopolitical factors, writes Reuters.
