Stocks dip deeper into bear market
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is closing mostly lower on Tuesday, a day after tumbling into a bear market on worries that high inflation will push central banks to clamp the brakes too hard on the economy. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% after another day of unsteady trading. Investors are bracing to see how big of an interest rate hike the Federal Reserve will make on Wednesday. Gains by several big technology companies including Oracle helped send the Nasdaq composite index up 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%. Treasury yields climbed again, reaching their highest levels in more than a decade.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP'S earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is dipping further Tuesday in its first trading after tumbling into a bear market on worries that high inflation will push central banks to clamp the brakes too hard on the economy.
The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in afternoon trading as investors brace for the Federal Reserve's announcement on Wednesday about how sharply it will raise interest rates. Earlier in the day, it wobbled between modest losses and gains after a couple big companies flexed financial strength with stronger profits and payouts to shareholders.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 173 points, or 0.6%, at 30,347, as of 3:32 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was little changed after swinging between a gain of 1.1% and a loss of 0.4%.
Trading across markets nevertheless was calmer than during Monday's worldwide rout, which sent the S&P 500 down 3.9%. Stocks fell more than 1% in Tokyo and Paris but rose that much in Shanghai. A measure of nervousness among investors on Wall Street was easing, even as Treasury yields again pierced their highest levels in more than a decade.
"No one's going to take meaningful positions today ahead of what could be a rip-roaring day" with the Fed's announcement, said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management.
Cryptocurrency prices continued to swing. They've been among the hardest-hit in this year's sell-off for markets as the Federal Reserve and other central banks raise interest rates to rein in inflation and forcefully turn off the "easy mode" that helped prop up markets for years. Bitcoin was down 4.3% in afternoon trading and sitting at $22,207, according to Coindesk. It fell overnight to nearly 70% below its record of $68,990.90 set late last year.
Offering some support to the market was a report that showed inflation at the wholesale level was a touch lower in May than expected, though it remains very high. It could be an indication that wholesale inflation peaked in March, according to Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management.
But economists said the data won't keep the Federal Reserve from hiking its key interest rate on Wednesday by a largerthan-usual amount. Investors are now largely expecting the biggest increase since 1994, a hike of three-quarters of a percentage point, or triple the usual amount.
A week ago, such a mega-increase was seen as only a remote possibility, if one at all. But a market-bludgeoning report Friday on inflation at the consumer level has seemingly pinned the Fed into getting more aggressive. It showed inflation for the consumer price index got worse in May, instead of slowing as hoped.
"It's really a split decision in terms of the market as to whether that will be a good thing or a bad thing," Nixon said of a big rate increase. "It certainly opens the door to additional big hikes in the future."
Treasury yields continued to climb, with the two-year yield touching its highest level since November 2007, before the financial crisis, according to Tradeweb. The 10-year yield reached its highest level during the day since April 2011.
They also had a relatively reliable warning signal of recession in the bond market flashing on and off. In afternoon trading, the yield on the 10year Treasury had climbed back above the two-year yield, at 3.49% versus 3.43%. That's typically how things look in the bond market.