Wall Street starts in red on ECB's cautious tone

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day in the negative territory after the ECB slashed its 2019 growth forecast to 1.1% from 1.7% seen in December and reminded investors of the global economic slowdown and weighed on the market sentiment. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both down 0.55% on the day while the Nasdaq Composite was erasing 0.7%.

Among the major S&P 500 sectors, financials are down 1.2% on the day dragged by a more-than-1% fall drop seen in the 10-year US T-bond yield. On the other hand, defensive sectors, utilities and real estate, are clinging to small gains in the early trade. Confirming the risk-off mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is rising more than 3% on the day.