In response to a sell-off in global stocks, strategists advised investors to exercise caution on Friday.
They cautioned that since markets “look vulnerable to further falls,” it might be too soon to purchase the dip. U.S. stocks began August with a strong decline as worries about a worsening economic outlook were stoked by new data.
The increase in first claims for unemployment benefits was the highest since August 2023.
Unexpectedly low and indicative of an economic downturn, the ISM manufacturing index, which measures industrial activity in the United States, came in at 46.8%.
A fear among investors was that the Federal Reserve would be lagging behind in reducing interest rates in an attempt to prevent a recession as a result of the poor statistics.
In line with Wall Street’s decline, European markets dropped 1.6% on Friday morning. The Nikkei index had its worst day in more than four years as Japan’s benchmark indexes fell more than 5% on Friday in Asia.
Source (CNBC)
