U.S. Stocks May See Further Downside In Early Trading

Following the sell-off seen to close out the previous week, stocks are likely to see further downside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 188 points.

Lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates are likely to weigh on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

Weakness in overseas markets may also carry over into the U.S. amid concerns about global economic growth amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in China.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.

Reports on durable goods orders, consumer confidence, new home sales, first quarter GDP and personal income and spending are likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of earnings news from a number of big-name companies.

Apple (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Boeing (BA), McDonald’s (MCD), Twitter (TWTR), Amazon (AMZN), Intel (INTC) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are just a few of the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Stocks moved steadily lower throughout the trading session on Friday, extending the sharp pullback seen on Thursday. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages slumped to their worst closing levels in over a month.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow plummeted 981.36 points or 2.8 percent to 33,811.40, the Nasdaq plunged 335.36 points or 2.6 percent to 12,839.29 and the S&P 500 dove 121.88 points or 2.8 percent to 4,271.78.

The extended sell-off contributed to substantial losses for the week. The Dow slumped by 1.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbled by 2.8 percent and 3.8 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 1.9 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index plummeted by 5.1 percent.

The major European markets have also shown notable moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has slumped by 1.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.6 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 1.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are plunging $4.64 to $97.43 a barrel after tumbling $1.72 to $102.07 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after falling $13.90 to $1,934.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $37.70 to $1,896.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 128.14 yen versus the 128.50 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0745 compared to last Friday’s $1.0790.