Futures rebound after rout but recession worries weigh

[June 17, 2022]  (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures bounced back on Friday from a brutal Wall Street selloff this week after the Federal Reserve's largest rate hike since 1994 and tightening measures by other major central banks raised fears of a recession.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq have both plunged 6% so far this week, with the former shedding nearly $2 trillion in this week's selloff alone.

The Fed on Wednesday raised its key rate by 75 basis points to tame decades-high inflation, and officials outlined a faster pace of rate hikes. The Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank also raised borrowing costs, adding to worries of a global economic downturn.

"Even the most ardent buy-the-dipper in the equity space is starting to realize inflation is a threat, with central banks prepared to hike the world into a slowdown and possible recession to get on top of it," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at a conference on the "International Roles of the U.S. Dollar" at 8:45 a.m. ET.

The S&P 500 has slumped about 23% this year and recently confirmed it was in bear market territory, or down 20% from its record closing high. The Dow is also on the cusp of confirming its own bear market.

Mega-cap firms Apple Inc, Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp gained about 1% each in premarket trading after a hammering on Thursday.

The expiration of monthly options contracts is expected to add to the volatility ahead of the Juneteenth market holiday on Monday.

At 06:49 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 172 points, or 0.57%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 29.75 points, or 0.81%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 123.25 points, or 1.1%.

U.S. shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd jumped 10% after Reuters reported China's central bank has accepted an application by Ant Group, an affiliate of the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, to set up a financial holding company.

United States Steel Corp rose 7.3% after posting an upbeat second-quarter profit forecast.



(Reporting by Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

 

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