US markets end sharply lower on Friday

19 Jun 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended sharply lower on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for monetary policy continued to weigh on the markets following the Federal Reserve's announcement on Wednesday. The Fed's forecast for two interest rates hikes in 2023 has led to speculation that the central bank will soon start tapering its asset purchases. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would provide ‘advance notice’ before making any changes to its asset purchases, but traders remain on edge about stocks losing a key layer of support. The Dow extended a recent downtrend, which saw the blue chip index close lower for the fifth straight sessions and eight out of the past ten.

However, overall trading activity was somewhat subdued with a lack of major US economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines. Brokerage stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 2.7 percent to its lowest closing level in a month. Substantial weakness was also visible among oil stocks, reflected by the 2.8 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Oil Index. The weakness in the oil sector came despite a rebound by the price of crude oil. Natural gas, gold and networking stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 533.37 points or 1.58 percent to 33,290.08, Nasdaq fell 130.97 points or 0.92 percent to 14,030.38 and S&P 500 was down by 55.41 points or 1.31 percent to 4,166.45.

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