Stocks skid on tech as policy tightening saps mood
BNN Bloomberg
Stocks slumped Friday amid a drop in global technology shares as investors worry about the impact of monetary policy tightening and the fast-spreading omicron virus variant.
Stocks slumped Friday amid a drop in global technology shares as investors worry about the impact of monetary policy tightening and the fast-spreading omicron virus variant.
Tech companies led declines in Europe’s Stoxx 600 index on concern that higher interest rates will hurt more expensive stocks. Asian tech stocks also fell, along with Nasdaq 100 futures.
Central banks globally are prioritizing the fight against elevated inflation by tightening monetary settings, while also keeping a wary eye on the impact of omicron. That backdrop has investors questioning whether global stocks are due for a rougher patch after almost doubling from pandemic lows.
The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up and the dollar was little changed. In Turkey, the lira touched an all-time low. Oil retreated for the first time in three days and European natural gas prices plunged from a record close after Russia in the last minute topped up supplies to the region.
“All three major central banks making decisions this week have demonstrated that they no longer regard the downside risks to economic activity over the coming months as outweighing the need to address inflation pressure,” Adrian Hilton, head of global rates and currency at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, wrote in a note to investors.
