NEW YORK, Oct 11 — Wall Street stocks opened lower today, extending a weak stretch as the IMF trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook and the Bank of England moved to stabilize the bond market.
The International Monetary Fund, updating its forecasts as inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine strain economies, maintained its outlook for 2022 but projected 2023 growth of 2.7 per cent, 0.2 points down from July expectations.
“The worst is yet to come and, for many people 2023 will feel like a recession,” said International Monetary Fund economic counsellor Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas in a blog post.
Meanwhile the Bank of England said it was widening the scope of daily purchases of UK government bonds, or gilts, until Friday in a step to try to calm markets after bond yields jumped and the pound sank.
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 per cent at 29,120.28.
The broad-based S&P tumbled 0.9 per cent to 3,579.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.3 per cent to 10,409.87.
Wall Street stocks have fallen the last four sessions as markets gird for more tough Federal Reserve interest rate increases in light of US economic data that has only moderated slightly.
A key report will be Thursday’s consumer price index data for September. — AFP
