Morning Report 14 Jan 22: ASX set for lower open as US rate hike outlook spooks stocks

US sharemarkets fell on Thursday amid widespread calls from US central bank officials to raise US interest rates. Weakness in megacap technology shares, including Tesla (-6.8%), Microsoft (-4.2%), Amazon (-2.4%) and Apple (-1.9%) weighed on the Nasdaq index. Shares of Snap plunged 10.2%. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index fell by 177 points or 0.5% after lifting 223 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 index lost 1.4% and the Nasdaq index dropped 382 points or 2.5%.  US treasury yields dipped on Thursday after data showed a modest rise in US producer prices in December and an unexpected increase in weekly jobless claims. The US Treasury sold US$22 billion of 30-year notes at a yield of 2.075% into solid demand. US 10-year yields fell by 3 points to near 1.695%. And US 2-year yields slid by 1 point to near 0.89%.

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