New York, April 4 (BNA): Stocks on Wall Street fell on Tuesday after two reports on the economy came in weaker than expected, the Associated Press reports.
The S&P 500 was down 0.7% at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 259 points, or 0.8%, at 33,341, as of 12:05 PM ET, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6%.
Investors remain divided on whether or not the US economy will fall into recession, and how much lower corporate profits are expected to fall.
The bigger question remains what the Federal Reserve will do with regard to interest rates, after raising them sharply over the past year to control soaring inflation.
Reports on job opportunities and factory orders released on Tuesday may have added to recession fears. But they may also give the Federal Reserve a reason to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in May for the first time in more than a year, providing a potential upside for markets.
One report showed that employers declared 9.9 million jobs in February, a sharper drop than economists had expected.
The Fed has been paying close attention to the numbers because the job market has remained very strong despite the interest rate hikes.
The hope is that reducing the number of openings can take some of the pressure off inflation without having to put a lot of people out of work.
US benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $80.07 a barrel, to slightly reduce pressure on inflation. International benchmark Brent crude fell 0.6 percent to $84.41 a barrel.
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