Worrying for many investors this week has been how bond yields have climbed despite weaker economic signals and how stock and bond losses are correlating again.
U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low in September, a second straight monthly decline, and new home sales fell almost 9% in August.
Also worrying for many is how climbing long-term borrowing costs are hitting the concentrated market leadership of mega-cap tech and digital stocks so sensitive to interest rates.
Adding to jitters about the Big Tech retreat, Amazon.com stock 4% on Tuesday as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit that charges the online retailer with harming consumers with higher prices.
In more traditional retail, Costco topped market estimates for quarterly revenue and profit in results released after the bell on Tuesday but its stock was down 2% ahead of Wednesday’s open.
World markets were more mixed, with China’s bourses managing some gains ahead of the big holiday week.
Profits at China’s industrial companies fell 11.7% year-on-year for the first eight months, narrowing from a 15.5% contraction for the first seven months and potentially suggesting a modest recovery is taking root.
But the rest of the picture there was murky.
The chairman of China Evergrande Group has been reportedly placed under police surveillance, ratcheting up pressure on the embattled developer during a deepening property market bust.
The United States also restricted goods from three more Chinese companies from entering the United States on Tuesday as part of an effort to eliminate goods made with the forced labor.
