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Equities globally were weaker and safe-havens in demand after
news of a fire near Europe's largest nuclear plant in Ukraine
following fighting with Russian forces sparked fears of a
potential disaster. The fire was later extinguished. [MKTS/GLOB]
Focus will be on the Labor Department's closely watched
employment report at 0830 am ET, which is expected to show that
labor market conditions tightened further in February and a
shortage of workers continued to drive up wages.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said this week he would
support a 25-basis-point interest rate increase at the central
bank's March 15-16 policy meeting and would be "prepared to move
more aggressively" later if inflation does not abate as fast as
expected.
Richly valued growth stocks have faced the brunt of the selloff
so far this week, with the S&P 500 growth index down 0.8%. Its
value counterpart has recorded just a 0.2% fall, thanks to
support from soaring energy shares.
The S&P 500 energy sector has gained 6.2% for the week on the
back of a crude price surge sparked by powerful Western
sanctions against Russia, a major crude producer.
At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 280 points, or 0.83%, S&P
500 e-minis were down 34 points, or 0.78%, and Nasdaq 100
e-minis were down 93 points, or 0.66%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down over 1% for the week, the most
among the three main indexes, while the blue-chip Dow eyed its
fourth straight weekly fall.
Energy stocks and defense companies including Lockheed Martin
Corp were mixed in premarket trading, while Citigroup and Apple
Inc slipped 1.6% and 0.9%, respectively, to lead losses among
the big banks and mega-cap growth names.
Gap Inc jumped 7.6% after the apparel retailer forecast upbeat
2022 earnings, betting on demand for its Old Navy and Athleta
clothing brands as Americans return to offices and social
events.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
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