Wall Street Opens Lower as Oil Surges Above $100
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
U.S. equities came under pressure in early Thursday trading as rising oil prices and firmer producer inflation unsettled sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 300 points, while Apple bucked the broader weakness with a gain of more than 2%.
Key Points
- The Dow was at 52,048, down 332 points, while the S&P 500 stood at 7,583 and the Nasdaq at 26,042, down 211 points or 0.8%
- Another early reading showed the Dow down 324 points to 52,056, with the S&P 500 at 7,585 and the Nasdaq at 26,052, confirming broad early-session weakness
- New York crude briefly rose above the US$100 mark to US$100.88 a barrel, up 5%, while Brent crude reached US$105.85, up 4.6%, amid persistent Middle East tensions
- U.S. August final-demand PPI rose 5.4% year on year, above the 5.3% forecast, while core PPI excluding food and energy increased 4.6% from a year earlier.
- Apple rose more than 2% after market optimism over a new upgrade cycle, with Goldman Sachs saying the foldable iPhone Duo is competitively priced and TrendForce projecting about 5 million units shipped this year
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong investors, the combination of higher oil prices, elevated U.S. yields and sticky inflation adds to uncertainty before Friday’s U.S. CPI release, which could affect expectations for next week’s Federal Reserve decision. Hang Seng Index futures were at 24,746, trading 208 points below spot, pointing to cautious sentiment spilling into the Hong Kong market.