New York, Aug 17 (BUS): Stocks are broadly moving lower on Wall Street on Wednesday afternoon, led by declines in major tech companies and erasing the S&P 500’s gains for the week.
The S&P 500 was down 1.1% as of 12:03 PM ET. Trading has been choppy throughout the week as the benchmark index comes from a four-week winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, or 0.8 percent, to 33,880 points, and the Nasdaq fell 1.7 percent. Small cap stocks fell more sharply than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index is down 2%, according to the Associated Press.
Expensive tech companies and retailers suffered some of the biggest losses. Utilities and makers of basic consumer products, which are usually considered less risky, hold up better than the broader market.
Wall Street was sucking up a mix of retail updates that showed inflation pressure was still affecting businesses and consumers, but it also showed spending was still solid.
Bond yields increased significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.91% from 2.81% late Tuesday.
Sales at US retailers were unchanged last month, according to the Commerce Department, and economists had expected a slight increase in July. Part of the weakness came from a 1.8% drop in gas sales, reflecting lower prices at the pump.
Wall Street is closely reviewing the latest economic data and corporate updates to get a better idea of how inflation is affecting businesses and consumers and whether the hottest inflation in 40 years has peaked or is beginning to cool.
Investors are also watching inflation to determine how far central banks should go in their fight against rising prices.
Britain’s inflation rate rose to a 40-year high of 10.1% in July, faster than in the US and Europe, as rising food prices in the UK tightened cost-of-living pressure fueled by rising energy costs.
Inflation pressures prompted the Bank of England to raise its key interest rate by half a percentage point this month, the largest increase in six consecutive increases since December.
The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in order to slow the economy and ease inflation, but investors remain concerned that it could slam the brakes too hard and push the economy into recession.
The Federal Reserve in July raised its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a point for the second time in a row. Wall Street will get more details about the process behind that decision when the Federal Reserve releases minutes from that meeting later Wednesday.
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