Nasdaq Rebounds After 3 Trading Days... Dow & S&P Indices Fall for 4 Consecutive Trading Days
Attention on Whether Interest Rate Hike Timing Will Be Accelerated
[Asia Economy International Department Reporter] The U.S. New York stock market closed mixed. Concerns about China's Evergrande Group have somewhat eased, while caution regarding the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) regular meeting results remains.
On the 21st (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,919.84, down 50.63 points (0.15%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index ended at 4,354.19, down 3.54 points (0.08%) from the previous session. Both the Dow and S&P 500 indices fell for the fourth consecutive trading day.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index rebounded after three trading days. The Nasdaq closed at 14,746.40, up 32.49 points (0.22%) from the previous session.
The previous day, the Hang Seng Index dropped more than 3% due to concerns that Evergrande Group might fail to pay bond interest due on the 23rd, which also caused a significant decline in the New York stock market.
Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group, said in an internal letter to employees on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Chuseok), "Through the joint efforts and hard struggles of executives and all employees, Evergrande will surely be able to quickly emerge from this dark time."
Following this news, the Hong Kong stock market rebounded, somewhat easing risk aversion sentiment. Credit rating agency S&P expects Evergrande to also miss the bond interest payment on the 23rd but does not foresee it escalating into a systemic risk.
Investors are closely watching the results of the FOMC regular meeting. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to provide hints about tapering its asset purchase program, and attention is focused on whether the newly released dot plot will indicate an earlier timing for interest rate hikes.
Market participants expect tapering to be announced in November, with the Fed likely to begin tapering at the December meeting.
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