Stocks around the world sold off on Thursday, while the US dollar gained, pressuring oil and other commodities, as investors absorbed the possibility that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the near term.
Oil prices erased most losses as supply worries offset the drag from the dollar.
Financial markets were adjusting to the minutes of the Fed April meeting, released on Wednesday, in which the US central bank opened the door to a rate hike in June, catching investors off guard.
Speaking on Thursday, New York Fed President William Dudley had said the US economy could be strong enough to warrant an interest rate increase in June or July.
“We are on track to satisfy a lot of the conditions” for a rate increase, Dudley said.
Traders were projecting a 32-per cent chance the Fed would raise rates in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from 15 percent on Tuesday. A majority now expect a rate hike at the July meeting.
“The Fed seems to think the economy is quite a bit stronger than some market pundits and maybe investors in general think," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.
“Not only is there the concern that they will, in fact, do damage to the economy, but also one more step in removing the easy money that clearly has been a benefit for rising asset prices over the last few years,” McCain said.
US stocks
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 91.22 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 17,435.4, the S&P 500 lost 7.59 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 2,040.04 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 26.59 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 4,712.53.
The Dow and S&P touched roughly two-month lows before paring losses. Financials, which tend to benefit in a rising rate environment, shed 0.9 percent after posting their best day in a month on Wednesday.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended down 1.2 per cent, as commodity-linked names fell. European travel and leisure stocks fell 1.5 per cent after EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared.
MSCI's gauge of global stocks dropped 0.9 per cent, falling for a third straight session.
The global index is off about 2 per cent for 2016. Concerns about the global economy persist and investors are responding to diverging policies between the Federal Reserve and other major central banks.
The Fed comments are “affecting the markets today and I think it's going to continue to affect the markets over the next few weeks as we inch closer towards June'', said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa.
Dollar vs other currencies
The dollar rose 0.3 per cent against a basket of currencies, adding to gains after hitting its highest point since late March on Wednesday.
Oil prices settled largely unchanged as worries about Canadian and Nigerian supply outages offset the impact of a stronger dollar. A stronger dollar makes commodities denominated in greenbacks more expensive for holders of other currencies.
US crude settled down 3 cents at $48.16 a barrel. Benchmark Brent's front-month contract, July, settled down 12 cents at $48.81 a barrel. It had fallen more than 3 percent during the session.
US Treasury yields
US Treasury prices rose, rebounding from Wednesday's selloff. Yields, which move inversely to prices, had climbed to their highest in about two months for shorter-dated maturities after the Fed's minutes were released.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasuries rose 10/32 in price to yield 1.8487, down from 1.883 per cent late on Wednesday.
Spot gold was down 0.4 per cent, and touched a three-week low.