Asia meltdown sets the stage for a softer open in Europe
- Nikkei -2.1%
- Hang Seng -2.5%
- Shanghai Composite -1.9%
- S&P 500 futures -0.5%
- Nasdaq futures -0.8%
- Dow futures -0.3%
- Russell 2000 futures -0.6%
It is a sea of red in the equities space but the only good news is that the drop is off earlier lows, but there is little doubt that sentiment remains in a rough spot for now.
All eyes are on Fed chair Powell's speech later today to see if he will offer any pushback against the bond market, and broader markets will also feed off that ahead of the weekend.
Given the anticipation, Powell surely knows what is at stake going into his speech today so the question is, can he afford to let things run further?
I reckon he wouldn't mind a healthy correction in equities but rising yields also risks further dislocations in other areas of the market and that is the real risk to not saying anything today - allowing for yields to surge higher once again.
It is certainly make or break time for equities to kick start March trading. The Nikkei looks set to close below a key trendline support today:
