1. Wall Street points to more losses
1. Wall Street points to more losses
U.S. stock markets pointed to heavy losses at the open on Monday, as a brief rally in oil prices faded, prompting investors to dump risky assets such as equities.
The blue-chip Dow futures fell 197 points, or 1.22%, the S&P 500 futures slumped 24 points, or 1.28%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 68 points, or 1.72%.
The losses come on the heels of the biggest weekly drop in a month for U.S. equities, with a 3.3% drop for the hard-hit Nasdaq Composite on Friday.
Investors will be looking ahead to comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday, when she testifies to Congress about the economy and monetary policy.
2. Gold up at 15-week high
2. Gold up at 15-week high
Gold futures jumped to a three-month high on Monday, as retreating oil prices and losses in global equity markets underpinned demand for assets perceived as safer.
Gold for April delivery rallied $16.10, or 1.39%, to trade at $1,173.80 a troy ounce, after rising to $1,175.60, the most since October 28.
The dollar index inched down 0.1% to 96.88, not far from last week’s three-month lows, amid growing uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's ability to raise interest rates as much as it would like this year.
3. International markets overview
3. International markets overview
European markets are down more than 1.5% in early trading, while the few Asian markets trading today shrugged off North Korea's rocket launch on Sunday. The Nikkei ended 1% higher on the back of a weakening yen.
China's foreign reserves fell for a third straight month in January to hit the lowest level in four years, as the nation’s central bank sold dollars to defend the yuan and prevent an increase in capital outflows.
Markets in China will be closed for the entire week due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
4. Friday market recap
4. Friday market recap
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 1.3%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.9% and the Nasdaq was down by 3.3%.
