Stocks close weak on inflation, fears of policy tightening

(RTTNews) – Stocks closed lower on Wall Street on Tuesday as worries about soaring inflation and impending policy tightening from the Federal Reserve turned the mood bearish.

The major averages all ended on a negative note despite recovering well from an early setback. The Dow Jones, which plunged to 32,752.34 in early trades, ended the session with a loss of 222.84 points or 0.67% at 32,990.12.

The S&P 500 fell 26.09 points or 0.63% to 4,132.15, while the Nasdaq, which managed to spend some time in positive territory during the session, ended down 49, 74 points or 0.41% at 12,081.39.

The Dow Jones posted a slight gain during the month, while the S&P 500 ended little changed and the Nasdaq lost around 2.1%.

In a speech at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability in Frankfurt, Germany, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he favored a 50 basis point hike at every meeting until that there is a substantial reduction in inflation.

In today’s US economic releases, a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday showed a slight decline in US consumer confidence in the month of May.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 106.4 in May, from an upwardly revised 108.6 in April. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to fall to 104.0 from 107.3 originally for the previous month.

According to a report by MNI Indicators, business activity in the Chicago area unexpectedly increased at a faster pace in May, rising to 60.3 during the month from 56.4 in April. The rise surprised economists, who expected the business barometer to dip to 55.0.

Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell International, Boeing and 3M lost around 2-2.8% during the session.

Alphabet gained more than 1.5%, while Facebook, Microsoft and Apple ended with modest losses.

Merck, Coca-Cola, Cisco Systems, American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Visa, Caterpillar and McDonalds also ended sharply lower.

Energy stocks lost ground after oil prices pared initial gains and fell on reports that some OPEC members favor suspending Russia’s participation in the deal. oil production.

In foreign trade, European stocks closed weaker on Tuesday, weighed down by worries about rising inflation and fears of impending interest rate hikes by global central banks. A spike in bond yields following a senior Fed official calling for several more rate hikes to tackle soaring inflation also weighed.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.72%. Germany’s DAX fell 1.29% and France’s CAC 40 ended down 1.43%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 edged higher.

Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region posted a mixed performance in Tuesday’s session. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3%, while China’s Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.2%.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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