BOJ stands pat, Activision acquisition deal, UAW strike - what's moving markets
Investing.com — The Bank of Japan maintained its extremely accommodative monetary policy stance, hitting the yen, while U.S. stocks are set for hefty weekly drops in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) could soon receive U.K. approval for its Activision purchase, while an expansion of the UAW draws nearer.
U.S. stock futures edged higher Friday, but are on course to post hefty weekly losses in the wake of the Federal Reserve signaling interest rates will stay higher for longer.
At 04:45 ET (08:45 GMT), the Dow futures contract traded largely unchanged, S&P 500 futures climbed by 6 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures inched up by 45 points or 0.3%.
The hawkish stance by the U.S. central bank resulted in bond yields surging, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbing to its highest level since 2007.
This has pressured the highly-indebted tech sector, with the Nasdaq Composite on track to drop 3.5% this week, which would be its worst week since March.
The blue-chip Dow stands 1.6% lower so far this week, while the broad-based S&P 500 currently is on course to drop 2.7%.
The U.S. economic data slate will center around the purchasing managers index reports for September on Friday, with the S&P Global U.S. manufacturing index expected to show a reading of 48, still in contraction territory, while the services index is tipped to come in at a healthy 50.6.
The equivalent data released earlier in Europe indicated that the eurozone economy will likely contract in the third quarter, with the flash composite index coming in at 47.1 in September, a slight improvement from August's 33-month low of 46.7.
The Bank of Japan maintained its short-term benchmark interest at negative levels
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