US markets end down, as rate cut hopes dim
Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower on Thursday after another volatile session as rising US Treasury bond yields reflected dimming hopes for an imminent pivot in the Fed's monetary policy. "Price action feeds on itself," Karl Haeling of LBBW said of the lacklustre session. "People see the market going down and they say, 'Get me out.'" The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1 percent gain at 37,775. But the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 percent to 5,011, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.5 percent to 15,601. The market's current posture towards pullbacks contrasts with the approach earlier in the year when investors eagerly stepped in to buy equities during periods of weakness. Analysts attribute the shift in large part to the growing expectation that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates fewer times, if at all, in 2024, than was initially expected. Among individual companies, Netflix fell 0.4 percent ahead of its release of quarterly results. The company reported better-than-expected profits of $2.3 billion after the market closed. The streaming giant is the first major tech company to report this quarter. Other giants, such as Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta, are scheduled to report next week. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 4.9 percent, citing "weakening macroeconomic conditions" and softening demand. (AFP)