(Bloomberg) — US equity futures edged lower as this month’s rally stalled amid a lack of catalysts. Treasury yields and the dollar rose.
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Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and those on the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. Shopify Inc. shares tumbled 19% in early trading after the e-commerce company said gross margins would decrease as a result of the sale of its logistics business. Uber Technologies Inc.’s first-quarter bookings missed estimates, pushing its shares down 10% in the premarket.
The benchmark Treasury yield rose three basis points to 4.49% while the dollar strengthened for a third day.
Investors winding down from earnings season are now unsure of what comes next after 3% of gains for the S&P 500 in May. US policymakers are signaling that bets on a pivot to easier policy may be premature, with Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari saying it’s likely the central bank will keep rates where they are “for an extended period of time.”
“We are now crawling through the tail end of earnings season and the market is lapsing into complacency,” said Hugh Grieves, fund manager of the Premier Miton US Opportunities fund. “The economy is ‘okay,’ rate cuts remain on the table and the oil price is declining. Unfortunately that’s not a stable equilibrium.”
The Fed’s more deliberate approach has put it out of sync with central banks in Europe that have already embarked on easing. Wednesday, Sweden’s Riksbank kicked off its rate cutting cycle, easing policy for the first time in eight years. That followed the Swiss National Bank’s decision to leapfrog peers with an interest rate cut in March.
Fed Governor Lisa Cook is due to speak later Wednesday.
Among other notable single stocks, Lyft Inc. shares gained in premarket trading, after the ride-hailing firm’s results and outlook beat estimates. Reddit Inc. shares rose after it posted a strong outlook.
Stocks in Europe touched a new high after upbeat results from brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Siemens Energy showed the earnings recovery filtering through to a wider swathe of the economy.
“Right now we’re seeing the broadening of performance, especially from the earnings perspective,” Nataliia Lipikhina, head of EMEA equity strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “The market wanted to see that earnings in different sectors, not just tech, are delivering.”
Key events this week:
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Fed Governor Lisa Cook speaks, Wednesday
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Bank of Japan issues summary of opinions from April policy meeting, Thursday
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China trade, Thursday
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UK BOE rate decision, Thursday
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US initial jobless claims, Thursday
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UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
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ECB publishes account of April policy meeting, Friday
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BOE Chief Economist Huw Pill speaks, Friday
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US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
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Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 7:37 a.m. New York time
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Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%
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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
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The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3%
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The MSCI World index fell 0.2%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
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The euro was little changed at $1.0746
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The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2490
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The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 155.46 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin fell 1.1% to $62,283.27
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Ether fell 1.9% to $2,989.63
Bonds
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The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.49%
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Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.46%
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Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.16%
Commodities
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Naomi Tajitsu, Macarena Muñoz and Allegra Catelli.
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