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Wall Street opens in red as financials continue to underperform

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day in the negative territory on Friday. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.45% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were down 0.35% and 0.25%, respectively.

The 10-year US T-bond yield, which turned south after the FOMC's dot plot on Wednesday showed that no rate hikes were expected in 2019, extended its slide on Friday and slumped to its lowest level since December 2017 amid a nearly 3% fall on the day.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the rate-sensitive financials is losing more than 1% on the day. On the other hand, the defensive utilities and real estate sectors stay in the positive territory to reflect a sour market mood. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is rising more than 5% to confirm the risk-off mood.

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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