Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks poised to extend the drop seen over the two previous sessions. The downward momentum for the markets comes as the U.S. dollar has come under pressure following remarks by President Donald Trump.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Trump said he thinks the U.S. dollar “is getting too strong.”
Trump also told the Journal he likes a low interest rate policy and noted he has not decided whether to reappoint Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks remained mostly negative throughout the trading day on Wednesday. With the drop on the day, the major averages added to the modest losses posted on Tuesday
The major averages ended the day in the red but off their worst levels of the session. The Dow dipped 59.44 points or 0.3 percent to 20,591.86, the Nasdaq slid 30.61 points or 0.5 percent to 5,836.16 and the S&P 500 fell 8.85 points or 0.4 percent to 2,344.93.
The modest weakness on Wall Street came amid lingering geopolitical concerns as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected decline in import prices in the month of March.
The Labor Department said import prices dipped by 0.2 percent in March after climbing by a revised 0.4 percent in February.
The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected import prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said export prices rose by 0.2 percent in March following a 0.3 percent increase in February. Export prices had been expected to tick up by 0.1 percent.
The economic calendar picks up in the coming days, including with the release of some key data while the markets are closed on Friday.
Steel stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 4.7 percent. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in over three months.
Considerable weakness was also visible among railroad stocks, as reflected by 2 percent slump by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. Greenbrier (GBX) and Trinity Industries (TRN) turned in two of the sector’s worst performances.
Oil service, semiconductor and trucking stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
