Stock market today: Dow tumbles again as technology crashes and yields rise

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The stock market was down on Wednesday, as the volatility that characterized this week continued as investors looked to the US jobs report on Friday as a possible source of stability.

Tech stocks came under particular pressure as bond yields rose.

Future for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average
showed an open 370 points lower after the index hovered this week, falling more than 300 points on Monday before rebounding by a similar amount on Tuesday to close at 34,314.

S&P 500
was heading for an equally small opening. Future for the

Nasdaq Composite
were down 1.5% while

Apple

(AAPLE), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT) each fell 1.6%, while Amazon (AMZN) fell 1% and Alphabet (GOOGL) fell 1.5%.

The driving forces of the markets have remained largely unchanged. Investors have worried about issues such as inflation, a global energy crisis – where soaring oil prices add further to global inflation fears – pressures on the supply chain, the ceiling on the US debt and the future of central bank stimulus.

Analysts noted that the market is eagerly awaiting the U.S. jobs report on Friday, which measures non-farm payrolls, as a possible source of stability amid a week of volatility. The Federal Reserve has said it will monitor employment indicators closely as it considers slowing its monthly asset purchase program, which adds liquidity to markets.

“The turbulent week continues as markets continue to run after a week of weak data,” said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage Oanda.

“Despite the best hopes of perpetual mega-bulls, the path of least resistance is lower at this time. I expect the markets to continue to tighten over the next few sessions until we hopefully get a decisive impression of the nonfarm payroll, ”added Halley. “This will help clarify the Federal Reserve’s reduction path and position itself appropriately.”

Bond yields increased, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bill reaching 1.55%. Higher bond yields tend to hit tech stocks particularly hard, as high yields usually reduce the present value of future earnings. Many tech stocks have high valuations based on big profits many years later.

Abroad, in Tokyo

Nikkei 225
fell 1.1% as investors grapple with the possible impact of new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s economic policies. that of Frankfurt

DAX
fell 2.4% after orders from German factories fell 7.7% in August due to supply chain issues, a sharp drop after rising 4.9% in July.

European sentiment has also been weighed amid a global energy crisis that has seen natural gas prices in the region rise by more than 500% since the start of the year, reaching 20% ​​on Tuesday alone.

“The importance of these movements on inflation, growth and the external accounts should not be underestimated. To put it in context, given the relative energy consumption in Europe for example, the rise in natural gas prices seen this year is equivalent to an oil trade of around $ 200 a barrel now, ”said George. Saravelos, strategist at Deutsche Bank. “These price movements are a big problem.”

Elsewhere, the New Zealand central bank was in the spotlight after raising rates for the first time in seven years with a 25 basis point hike in the main policy rate to 0.5%. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has warned of continued cost pressures and inflation expected to exceed 4% in the near term.

Here are three actions in motion Wednesday

Palantir Technologies

(PLTR) rose 8.5% in pre-market commerce, after the company announced Tuesday night that it had won an $ 823 million U.S. Army intelligence contract.

Novavax

(NVAX) was down 5.1% in pre-market, and is expected to continue its 4.6% decline on Tuesday after the company announced a number of new executive appointments.

Leading British grocery store

Tesco

(TSCO.UK) rose 4.5% after raising its outlook for the full year after a strong first half.

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