Why is the Block share price plunging 6% today?

The Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price is currently down 6.4% in Thursday’s trading.

The global buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock closed yesterday trading for $95.95 and is currently at $89.81.

That’s a much sharper sell-off than the 0.3% losses currently posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

So, what’s going on?

Why is the ASX BNPL share tumbling?

The Block share price is under pressure today following a 2.5% overnight retreat by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC).

Block, which acquired Afterpay in January this year, is dual-listed in Australia and the United States. And Block’s shares slid a painful 8.6% on the NYSE yesterday.

The pressure on the Block share price and the broader tech sector comes on several fronts.

First, there’s the big rout in crypto markets. Spurred by a liquidity crunch at global crypto exchange FTX.com, this has just seen Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) tumble to two-year lows.

Second, investors are bracing for the latest inflation report out of the US. That’s due out today, overnight Aussie time.

Should inflation in the world’s economy prove resilient despite the spate of recent interest rate rises, it will most likely mean continued aggressive rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve. And fast-rising interest rates have proven to be bad news for the Block share price, and indeed every BNPL company, in 2022.

We’ll need to wait and see what those numbers are. But the jobs report released out of the US on Friday showed the nation added more jobs in October than consensus expectations, with wages rising as well.

As Citigroup economists Veronica Clark and Andrew Hollenhorst note (quoted by Bloomberg):

An upside surprise would be more likely to be driven by underlying strength and together with the resilient jobs report would further raise the risk that policy rates will need to rise higher to quell inflation.

Stay tuned.

Block share price snapshot

Since commencing trading on the ASX on 20 January, the Block share price has lost 49%. That compares to a 5% loss posted by the ASX 200 over that same period.

The post Why is the Block share price plunging 6% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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