The main indices of Wall Street closed lower on Thursday as investors took profits, particularly in tech stocks after a three-day rally, while several officials at the Federal Reserve (Fed) talked about inflation and interest rate hikes.
Interest-rate-sensitive growth stocks such as technology lagged the broader market in the last session before fourth-quarter earnings season begins.
Several officials of the Fed they spoke publicly about fighting high inflation. Lael Brainard was the latest and most prominent central banker to signal that the Fed was preparing to start raising rates in March.
Other officials, including the president of the Fed de Chicago, Charles Evans, spoke about the need for tighter monetary policy, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker also discussed a rate hike in March.
The S&P 500 it lost 67.33 points, or 1.42%, to 4,659.02 units; Meanwhile he Nasdaq Composite it gave up 381.58 points, or 2.51%, to 14,806.81 units. The Promedio Industrial Dow Jones it fell 176.70 points, or 0.49%, to 36,113.62 units.
Although the yields of the 10-year US Treasury bonds fell, investors took profits on index stocks Nasdaq, according to Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis.
“We had a pretty nice rally on the Nasdaq in the last couple of days, so there could be some lingering nervousness around Fed rates and some profit taking, especially ahead of the results,” he said.
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