Wall Street Shadows: Awaiting Powell's Speech Amid Economic Jitters

Wall Street experienced a downturn as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech for insights on the interest rate path. U.S. manufacturing continues to shrink due to rising costs and weak orders. Cyber Monday sales offered a brief respite, contrasting with crypto market losses.

Wall Street's main indexes saw declines on Monday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech, which could provide hints on the impending policy decision. Economic data released earlier painted a bleak picture for U.S. manufacturing, which contracted for the ninth month in a row amid weak new orders and rising costs exacerbated by tariffs.

Amid such uncertainty, traders are fixated on Powell's forthcoming remarks. With the market anticipating a significant monetary policy shift, evidenced by an 87.6% probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in December, traders are nervously seeking hints on future interest rate changes.

Elsewhere, Cyber Monday sales offered a commercial uplift with shoppers predicted to spend over $14 billion online. However, the crypto sector faced setbacks with bitcoin values slipping below critical thresholds, while U.S.-listed crypto stocks bore the brunt. Meanwhile, notable movements in corporate shares were observed as Tesla, Synopsys, and big-box retailers displayed varied reactions.

(With inputs from agencies.)