U.S. stock index futures remained weak despite bouncing off their lows after Wall Street shares suffered significant losses on Monday. Futures point at a negative open on Tuesday, with the sell-off weighing on sentiment worldwide.
On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell just over 1,175 points to close down at 24,345.75 after dropping more than 1,500 points during the session; other major indices also closing sharply lower. The sell-off kicked into action on Friday, after the latest nonfarm payrolls report saw interest rates in the U.S. jump.
The Cboe Volatility index — widely considered the best fear gauge on Wall Street — surged to 49.21.
Global markets followed suit with the he German Dax falling 2.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 shedding 2.4 percent. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 plummeted 4.7 percent, while the Shanghai composite pulled back 3.4 percent.
Market participants are paying close attention to not only the bond market, but how the U.S. Federal Reserve will deal with the carnage, as Jerome Powell takes on the position as chair of the U.S. central bank.
The U.S. dollar gave up some of its earlier gains when forex investors had dumped riskier assets for the relative safety of the greenback, despite currency markets remaining generally calm compared with the rout in equity markets.
The sell-off across world equity markets sent investors rushing into the dollar on Monday, helping the U.S. currency perform well against the euro, British pound and commodity-linked currencies. The Japanese yen and Swiss franc also benefitted from investor flight to safety.
EUR/USD clawed back some of its losses, bouncing back from Monday’s drop , to trade above 1.2430. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was down 0.1 percent, after a big jump on Monday.
Strength for the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc was relatively subdued. USD/JPY dropped to 108.45 but pared its losses rising back above 109. USD/CHF
