Pre-Market Pulse 30th August – Weaker economic data eases fears of more rate hikes

Overnight – Weaker economic data eases fears of more rate hikes

Equities ended higher overnight as Treasury yields slipped after weaker economic data stoked optimism that the Federal Reserve will likely skip rate hikes in September. Treasury yields continued to ease as the latest economic data showing an unexpected fall in consumer confidence and a surprise drop in job openings pushed up bets that the Fed is likely to stand pat on rates in September. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge fell to 106.1 in August from 114 in July, confounding economists’ forecast for a reading of 116. The U.S. Labor Department’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) report, a measure of labor demand, showed job openings in July fell to about 8.8 million, missing expectations of 9.46M. Following the weaker-than-expected data, suggesting that the Fed’s rate hikes are beginning to work, bets on a Fed pause in September jumped to nearly 90% from about 80% last week

Big tech was in rally mode as falling Treasury yields, which make higher-valued growth stocks including tech and consumer stocks more attractive, pushed the broader market higher. Meta Platforms and Google led the move higher, with the latter getting its three-day cloud event underway and unveiling plans to integrate artificial intelligence deeper into its cloud products. Apple rose more than 2% after announcing that it would launch the iPhone 15 at an event on Sept. 12. Broader sentiment on tech continues to be healthy as a Bank of America survey showed Tuesday that tech was among the top sectors that drove in a $3.7 billion of inflows to stocks last week.