NEW YORK, Aug 4 — Wall Street stocks treaded water early today ahead of key US jobs data and following the latest central bank move to counter inflation, this time by the Bank of England.
The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.75 per cent and forecast a lengthy recession as uncertainty over energy supply due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine clouds the outlook.
Back in the United States, Commerce Department data showed US exports at a record level in June, narrowing the trade gap.
The report comes ahead of Friday’s closely-watched government employment data that will influence next moves by the Federal Reserve.
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent at 32,780.27.
The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 4,155.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 12,695.82.
Among individual stocks, Warner Brothers Discovery climbed 2.3 per cent after announcing it was shelving the movie adaptation of Batgirl. The move appears to reflect a change in corporate strategy after the merger between Warner Bros and Discovery. — AFP
