Futures Pointing To Sharply Lower Open On Wall Street

After moving lower over the three previous sessions, stocks are likely to see further downside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 515 points.

Lingering concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates are likely to weigh on the markets following the sell-off seen to close out the previous week.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, with the central bank expected to continuing raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 57.4 percent chance of a 50 basis point rate hike and a 42.6 percent chance of a 75 basis point rate increase.

With traders reacting negatively to a highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday. The steep drop on the day extended the sell-off seen over the course of Thursday’s session.

The major averages finished the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slumped 880.00 points or 2.7 percent to 31,392.79, the Nasdaq dove 414.20 points or 3.5 percent to 11,340.02 and the S&P 500 tumbled 116.96 points or 2.9 percent to 3,900.86.

For the week, the Dow plunged by 4.6 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq plummeted by 5.1 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.9 percent.

The major European markets have also shown notable moves to the downside. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 1.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $1.63 to $119.04 a barrel after falling $0.84 to $120.67 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $22.70 to $1,875.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $21.70 to $1,853.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 134.15 yen versus the 134.41 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0462 compared to last Friday’s $1.0519.