US OPEN: Wall Street opens slightly lower on first day of March trading

• US indices launched today's cash trading lower
• Higher yields and Fed's Kaskhari comments weigh on equities
• Kohl's (KSS.US) stock plunges on surprise quarterly loss

Three major Wall Street indices launched today's session lower, extending yesterday's losses. Dow Jones slipped 0.2%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.3% and 0.10% respectively amid higher yields and set of weak quarterly results. The 1-year yield broke above 5%, while benchmark 10-year yield oscillated slightly below 4.0%, a level not seen since November. Also hawkish comments from Fed's Kaskhari weighed on sentiment. Central banker said inflation is very high and the Fed's job is to bring it down to 2% and leans to continue to push up his policy path versus December. Traders now await the ISM manufacturing report for hints about how the economy is faring.

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

US30 fell sharply on Tuesday and is currently testing the key support at 32620 pts, which is marked with previous price reactions and 200 SMA (red line). As long as price sits above the aforementioned support, another upward move may be launched towards the key resistance zone around 33720 pts, which coincides with 61.8% retracement and 50 SMA (green line). On the other hand, should a break lower occur, downward move may deepen towards the next support zone  located around 38.2% retracement. Source: xStation5

Company news:

Kohl's (KSS.US) shares lost over 8.0% in premarket after the department store chain reported unexpected quarterly loss and issued weak financial outlook for the full-year with CEO Tom Kingsbury saying that sales were pressured by the “ongoing inflationary environment.” Company reported a loss of $2.49 per share on $5.78 billion of revenue, while Refinitiv analysts expected earnings of 98 cents per share on $5.99 billion of revenue.

Kohl's (KSS.US) stock fell sharply in premarket and if current sentiment prevails sell-off may deepen towards key support at $22.50, which is marked with lower limit of the local 1:1 structure and 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave started in March 2020. Source: xStation5

AMC Entertainment (AMC.US) shared dropped nearly 7.0% before the opening bell after the cinema chain recorded higher than expected loss of 26 cents per share in its latest quarter, compared to the 21 cent per share loss expected by analysts. Revenue plunged 15% to $991 million, however topped market projections of $978 million as the box office is yet to return to pre-pandemic norms.

Rivian (RIVN.US) stock fell over 9.0% in premarket after EV producer reported mixed financial results for Q4 and a disappointing production outlook. 

Novavax (NVAX.US) stock plunged over 25.0% in off-hours trading after the vaccine maker said that “substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to operate as a going concern” through the next year.