US OPEN: Wall Street pressured by wage spiral concerns

• US indices launched today's cash trading mostly lower

• Latest US data point to potential formation of wage spiral

• Tesla (TSLA.US) stock plunges after uneventful investor day

Three major Wall Street indices launched today's session mostly lower. Dow Jones trades around the flatline, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.60% and 0.90% respectively as initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week, and labour costs for Q4 2022 were revised higher to double the expectations, which raised concerns regarding potential wage spiral and further rate hikes. Markets now see the Fed’s funds rate rising to a range of 5.5%-5.75% in September, compared to the current 4.5%-4.75% target.

Unit labor costs support the case for more rate hikes. Source: Bloomberg

S&P 500 index stocks categorized by sectors and industries. Size represents market cap. Source: xStation5

US2000 pulled back sharply in recent days as buyers failed to break above resistance at 1960 pts, which coincides with 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the downward wave launched in November 2021. During today's session index broke below local support at 1890 pts, and if sellers manage to uphold momentum, sell-off may deepen towards next key support at 1840 pts, which is marked with previous price reactions and 23.6% retracement. Source: xStation5

Company news:

Tesla (TSLA.US) stock fell over 8.00% in premarket after a lackluster investor day. Elon Musk did not provide any specific details regarding the highly anticipated affordable electric vehicle. 

Tesla (TSLA.US) stock launched today’s session with a bearish price gap below the lower limit of triangle formation. If current sentiment prevails, downward correction may deepen towards support at $173.50 where 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the upward move started in March 2020 is located. Source: xStation5

Macy’s (M.US) shares jumped over 6% before the opening bell after the department store chain reported upbeat financial results for the latest quarter and solid financial outlook.

Salesforce (CRM.US) stock rose over 15% after the software company topped market estimates across the board in its latest earnings report and issued upbeat guidance. CEO Marc Benioff aiming to boost profits to fend off pressure from a host of activist investors.

Snowflake (SNOW.US) stock fell over 7.0% in off-hours trading as disappointing  Q1 financial outlook overshadowed better than expected quarterly results. Cloud data platform provider also announced a $2 billion stock repurchase program.