Good Evening. After failing to recover from their worst day since June 2020, US equities dropped further into the red on Thursday. The losses add to a recent sell-off in stocks sparked by fears that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to combat persistently high inflation could cause an economic slowdown.
The S&P 500 fell 0.59%, moving closer to bear market territory, which is defined as a 20% drop from a recent high. The index is down about 19% from its all-time high of Jan. 3. Following a roughly 1,200-point plunge in the previous session, the Dow dropped by 0.75% to settle at its lowest level since March 2021. After fluctuating between gains and losses in intraday trading, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.26%.