The Dow stumbled on Thursday to close out the shortened U.S. trading week despite mostly better-than-expected quarterly results from major Wall Street banks. Tech stocks were a sea of red.
US markets will be closed on Good Friday. The ASX is closed on Friday and on Monday, as are most major European markets.
Thursday marked the monthly expiration for options contracts, an occurrence that has in the recent past helped amplify stock market gyrations as investors make adjustments to account for millions of expiring options contracts on stocks, ETFs and indexes.
Amidst the carnage, John Lynch, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management, said investors are set for a reality check. “After almost two years of earnings-per-share (EPS) growth at a multiple of historical averages, this year’s opening quarter is projected to deliver single digit profit growth for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2020,” Lynch said.
“It’s a tough environment,” said David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Private Wealth Management. “Inflation numbers are going to stay very high and haven’t peaked yet, and we’re also going to start to see a deteriorating outlook for economic growth — not a recession, but significantly slower economic growth than certainly we’d anticipated as the year began.”
Wherever you look there is pain. For example. Mortgage rates in the U.S. surged, reaching 5% for the first time in more than a decade.
On the economic front, investors digested a weaker picture as data showed initial jobless claims rose more than expected, while the latest retail sales report flagged the impact of red-hot inflation on the consumer.
Bitcoin slumped 3.4 per cent to under $40,000 USD. North Korean-tied hackers were responsible for a $620-million cryptocurrency heist last month targeting players of the popular Axie Infinity game, US authorities said Thursday.
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