Stock market futures fell Wednesday evening as Wall Street attempts to stabilize after several dramatic swings in recent days.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 68 points or about 0.2 percent. S&P 500 futures fell by 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell by 0.4%.
The move in futures came after stocks failed to extend an early rally on Wednesday, fueling fears that the factors that caused Monday’s sell-off have not gone away. The S&P500 fell by 0.77% and the Nasdaq-Composite fell by 1.05%. The 30 stocks Dow lost about 234 points or 0.60%.
All three averages have now fallen in four of the last five sessions.
The recent spike in market volatility could be a foretaste of what’s to come for the rest of the year, said Joseph Ferrara, investment strategist at Gateway Investment Advisers. Ferrara told CNBC on Wednesday that economic worries, geopolitical conflicts and the upcoming November election could make investors nervous in the coming months.
“Given all of this and more – there is the known and the unknown – I think investors should perhaps not position their portfolios defensively, but be prepared for increased volatility between now and the end of the year,” said Ferrara. Gateway is a subsidiary of Natixis.
One of the reasons for Monday’s sharp sell-off was Friday’s jobs report, which showed slowing job growth. For this reason, traders will likely be watching Thursday’s weekly unemployment numbers even more closely, looking for a possible increase in layoffs.
“I think investors are still trying to assess the state of the U.S. economy and the financial health of companies. I think the consumer is going to be a lot of the headlines from now until the end of the year,” Ferrara said.
Corporate earnings could also be an important factor for market movements on Thursday. The shares of Warner Bros. Discovery And Bumble each posted a decline in expanded trading after reporting weak second-quarter sales results.
Companies set to announce their results on Thursday morning include Eli Lilly And Under Armour.
