Major Wall Street stocks continued to decline as concern sentiment rose amid the potential for a faster pullback from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) stimulus package while similar factors kept government bond yields up.
Asian and European stocks also fell sharply after the Nasdaq high -tech stock index plunged more than 3% on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 170.64 points (0.47%) at 36,236.47, the S&P 500 lost 4.53 points (0.10%) at 4,696.05 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 19.31 points (0.13%) at 15,080.87.
While stocks continued to decline, U.S. treasury yields rose as investor sentiment turned restless with the Fed’s more hawkish stance in controlling inflation and supply.
The 10 -year benchmark yield rose to its highest level since March 2021 at 1.7530%, and the 2 -year yield also peaked to its highest level since March 2020 at 0.8736%.
The dollar index continued to rise to a 14 -month high with the dollar up 0.105% and the Euro down 0.19% at $ 1.1291.
Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Labor data showed an increase in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said declining non -manufacturing activity in December had added to concerns.
Additionally, investors are now focusing on the US NFP jobs report to be released on Friday.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 2.1% at $ 79.50 a barrel and Brent crude oil rose 1.5% at $ 81.99.
Spot gold fell 1.2% at $ 1,788.22 per ounce and gold futures fell 2.1% at $ 1,787.10 per ounce.
Bitcoin was down 0.63% at $ 43,164 where the cryptocurrency was among the worst affected in the market overnight selling.
