US markets end deeply in red on Profit booking

06 May 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended deeply in red on Thursday as traders cashed in on the relief rally seen following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 50 basis points as widely expected, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell was less hawkish than some had feared. Further, concerns about higher rates, inflation, the economic outlook and the ongoing war in Ukraine remain, contributing to the sharp pullback on Wall Street. Besides, a sharp increase in treasury yields also weighed on the markets, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note soaring to its highest levels in well over three years. On the sectoral front, steel stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances amid concerns about the outlook for global demand, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 6 percent to a two-month closing low. Substantial weakness was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 5.5 percent nosedive by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index. The index plunged to its lowest closing level in well over a year.

On the economic data front, labor productivity in the U.S. showed a substantial pullback in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The Labor Department said labor productivity plunged by 7.5 percent in the first quarter, reflecting the largest decline since the third quarter of 1947. The steep drop in the first quarter came after labor productivity surged by a revised 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. Street had expected productivity to tumble by 5.4 percent in the first quarter compared to the 6.6 percent spike that had been reported for the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 30th. The report showed initial jobless claims rose to 200,000, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 181,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 182,000 from the 180,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,063.09 points or 3.12 percent to 32,997.97, Nasdaq dropped 647.16 points or 4.99 percent to 12,317.69 and S&P 500 was down by 153.3 points or 3.56 percent to 4,146.87. 

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