US markets settle marginally lower on Wednesday

23 Jun 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended marginally lower on Wednesday as traders reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. In prepared remarks, Powell indicated the Fed plans to continue moving expeditiously to combat inflation but argued the US economy is strong enough to handle tighter monetary policy. However, Powell acknowledged that achieving a soft landing will be very challenging due in part to factors outside of the Fed's control and noted a recession is certainly a possibility. Powell said the pace of future interest rate hikes will be dependent on incoming data and the evolving outlook for the economy and suggested the Fed will need to see compelling evidence that inflation is slowing before it begins to scale back its monetary policy tightening plans.

The Fed Chief said the central bank will still strive to avoid adding uncertainty in what is already an extraordinarily challenging and uncertain time. On the sectoral front, Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, moving sharply lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for August delivery tumbled $3.33 to $106.19 a barrel amid concerns about the outlook for demand. Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 5.2 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index plunged by 4.5 percent. Significant weakness also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.9 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index ended the session at its lowest closing level in over six months.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.12 points or 0.15 percent to 30,483.13, Nasdaq lost 16.22 points or 0.15 percent to 11,053.08 and S&P 500 was down by 4.9 points or 0.13 percent to 3,759.89. 

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