US equities dropped on Thursday following indications in the Federal Reserve’s (FED) minutes that interest rate reductions would soon start. US business activity reached a low point for the fourth month. The S&P 500 sank 0.63 percent to 5,585 points, the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.13 percent to 17,716 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.45 percent to 40,707 points.
The “vast majority” of policymakers believed that the market should anticipate a rate cut in September because the data met expectations, according to the US Federal Reserve’s minutes, which were made public on Wednesday.
According to the data, the number of Americans submitting new applications for unemployment benefits increased in the most recent week, although this increase is still consistent with the labor market’s cooling off in the nation. In the US market, shares of Tesla Inc. declined 2.58% to $217.50 and shares of Intel Corp. slid 3.1% to $20.74.
Current prices for oil and gold
Following five days of declines as investors worried about the commodity’s demand globally, crude oil prices saw a prolonged increase before US fuel inventories declined to provide support.
Throughout the day, US WTI oil jumped 1.86 percent to $73.27 per barrel and Brent oil increased 1.83 percent to $77.44 per barrel.
Under pressure from the dollar’s recovery and rising bond rates, gold prices fell more than 1% on Thursday.
The US dollar recovers
Before US FED Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, the US dollar recovered from a 13-month low versus the Euro on Thursday. This Thursday saw a 0.4% increase in the dollar index. Rates and currency markets view the US easing cycle as having more legs than other nations.
The yield on the US 10-year benchmark bond increased 8 basis points to 3.856 percent on Thursday from 3.776 percent the day before. A 25 basis-point rate drop from the FED in September has been fully priced into the interest rate futures market.
