U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday amid a broad sell-off, while investor sentiment worsened on concerns that the U.S. central bank’s interest rate hike the previous day would not be enough to fight rising inflation.
The S&P 500 index closed down 3.56% at 4,146.87 points. The Dow Jones fell 3.12% to 32,997.97 points. The Nasdaq Composite technology index fell 4.99% to 12,317.69 points.
All three of Wall Street’s major indexes returned gains made during a relief rally on Wednesday. The technology-focused Nasdaq posted its biggest daily percentage decline since June 2020 and its lowest closing score since November 2020.
The Dow Jones index had its worst daily performance since October 2020.
“Investors aren’t looking at fundamentals (like balance sheets) right now, and that’s more of a sentiment issue,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday by 0.50 percentage point, as expected, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell explicitly ruled out a 0.75 percentage point hike at an upcoming meeting.
All 11 major S&P sectors retreated, and the Consumer Discretionary Index led the decline with a 5.8% drop. The index was dragged by Etsy Inc and eBay Inc, down 16.8% and 11.7%, respectively, after both companies predicted second-quarter revenues to be below Wall Street estimates.
Source: CNN Brasil
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