Stocks tumble, ending worst quarter in 2 years
A late burst of selling left stocks broadly lower on Wall Street Thursday, as the market closed out its worst quarter since the pandemic broke out two years ago.
Despite a 3.6% gain for March, a dismal January and February left U.S. indexes lower for the year to date. The S&P 500 ended the day 1.6% lower, bringing its loss since the beginning of the year to 4.9%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%. Both indexes also notched gains for March, thanks largely to a market rally in the two weeks heading into this week.
The S&P 500 fell 72.04 points to 4,530.41. The Dow fell 550.46 points to 34,678.35, and the Nasdaq slid 221.76 points to 14,220.52.
Smaller company stocks also fell. The Russell 2000 index dropped 20.94 points, or 1%, to 2,070.13. About 85% of stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 fell. Technology and communications stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Many of the companies in those sectors have pricey stock values that tend to give the broader market a more forceful push either up or down. Chipmaker Intel fell 3.6%, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms slid 2.4%.
Banks also fell along with bond yields, which forces interest rates on loans lower, making lending less profitable for banks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.34% from 2.36% late Wednesday. Bank of America fell 4.1%.
U.S. crude oil prices fell 7%, and Brent, the international standard, fell 4.9%. The pullback slightly trimmed what have been soaring oil prices amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has elevated concerns that tightened supplies will only worsen persistently rising inflation.
An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.4% in February compared
with a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982.
Energy prices have been a key factor in pushing inflation higher and President Joe Biden’s plan, announced Thursday, to release more oil into the system comes as little relief is expected from the oil cartel OPEC. The cartel and its allied oil producers including Russia are sticking to a modest increase in the amount of crude they pump to the world, a step that supports higher prices.
Higher prices for everything from energy to food have been a key concern of central banks globally, which are moving to raise interest rates to help temper the impact. Investors have been trying to measure how the economy and companies will fare amid rising inflation, higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine and other factors.
Investors received a lukewarm update on the job market on Thursday. More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at historic lows. Wall Street will get a fuller report on Friday when the Labor Department releases employment data for March.
Gold for June delivery rose $15 to $1,954 an ounce. Silver for May delivery rose 2 cents to $25.13 an ounce, and May copper was unchanged at $4.75 a pound.
The dollar fell to 121.62 Japanese yen from 121.78 yen. The euro fell to $1.1071 from $1.1159.