Attention has returned to the virus and central bank policy following a strong earnings season, with the US stock market resuming the sell-off overnight.
Powell flags faster tapering
This time it was driven by a more hawkish tone from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who flagged a speeding up of the bond tapering program ahead of the mid-December meeting.
The news immediately sent yields higher as it suggests rates may also need to be increased, with Powell’s statement that also redefined ‘transitory’ inflation roiled markets.
Apple stands out as US markets sold off
The result was a more than 1% loss across the board, with the Dow Jones the worst hit, falling 1.9%, the S&P 500 down 1.9% and Nasdaq 1.6%.
Oil futures fell by close to 5%, sending the likes of Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell (AMS: RDSA) lower.
Travel stocks were also hit by worsening news around the virus variant, with United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) down nearly 1%.
The standout, however, was Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), which surged over 3% into record territory as investors once again flooded to quality in the biggest company in the world.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks performed on Tuesday.
- Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) up 2.5%
- Unity (NYSE: U) up 1.2%
- Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) down 4.0%
- Uber (NYSE: UBER) down 4.3%
- Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM) down 5.4%
- Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) down 6.1%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to follow US markets lower at the open on Wednesday. To find out more, check out my ASX 200 morning report.