Stocks slide as yields rise and oil prices plummet

• Major US indices posted heavy losses on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 underperforming the major indices.
• Rising bond yields were the initial driver of the decline, but the sell-off accelerated along with oil at the close.

Stocks were hit hard on Thursday, with major US indices rather than reducing Wednesday’s post-FOMC hike; The S&P 500 fell roughly 1.5% to sink to 3,920 from Asian session highs near 3,990, the Nasdaq 100 plunged more than 3.0%, losing its 13,000 level in the process. The Dow’s slide was comparatively modest, the index was down just 0.5% and small caps were also hit hard, with the Russell 2000 falling nearly 3.0%. The CBOE volatility index (or VIX) posted a sharp rise of 2.35 above 21.50.

“Growth” stocks (which are more reliant on earnings growth expectations) such as big tech companies and Tesla (which fell nearly 7%) underperformed Thursday, with the S&P 500 growth index falling by 2.3%, while “value” stocks (whose valuation is more dependent on current cash flow levels) help improve, with the S&P 500 value index falling 0.6%; – the increase in the yields of the US government debt was behind the impact of growth.

In terms of the performance of the GICS sector; Amid a strong crude oil sell-off, energy was the hardest hit sector, falling 4.7% on the day. Information technology (down 2.9%) and consumer discretionary (down 2.6%) were the next worst hit sectors, while financials (up 0.6%) outperformed, unsurprisingly, driven by higher government borrowing costs.