The question among investors is whether the Fed will be able to carry out its plan to increase interest rates without throwing the economy into recession.
Wall Street spent all Monday morning in the red and its main indicator, the Dow Jones Industrials, lost 1.54% at mid-day; however, the most pronounced fall was suffered by the Nasdaq, where the main technology companies are listed, which fell 3.17%.
At noon, the Nasdaq fell 384.90 points or 3.17%, to 11,759.77 integers and the S&P fell 2.36% or 97.35 points, to 4,025.99 integers
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 506.90 points or 1.54%, to 32,392.47 integers.
These movements take place after last Wednesday the Federal Reserve (Fed) announced a rise in interest rates of half a point to curb inflation, which has been poorly received by investors.
This is the biggest rate hike in more than two decades, since the last time the US central bank announced a half-point increase was in 2000.
Investors are wondering if the Fed will be able to carry out its plan for interest rate hikes without throwing the economy into recession.
“The market does not know what level the Fed has to reach to control inflation and we have the feeling of a global slowdown,” said Sebastien Galy, an analyst at Nordea Asset Management in statements collected by The Wall Street Journal.
For his part, the expert Tom Essaye, from the firm Sevens Report, assured today in a report that the mood of investors continues to respond negatively to the new confinements in China due to covid-19.
“Covid-19 cases in Shanghai are on the rise again, causing further restrictions on movement and work. Meanwhile, Beijing continues to suffer from limited lockdowns, compounding concerns about global economic growth,” Essaye noted.
By sectors, energy (-5.81) and technology (-3.31) were the hardest hit, essential goods being the only sector that was in the green with a rise of 0.29%.
Among the Dow Jones companies, the losses of Boeing (-7.01%), Chevron (-4.86%) and Visa (-3.03%), as well as the profit of Walmart (-1.31 %) and Amgen (1.27%).
In other markets, Texas oil fell to $104.33 a barrel, the 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 3.08%, gold fell to $1,862.30 an ounce and the dollar lost ground. against the euro, with an exchange rate of 1.055.