Top line
Shares fell again Tuesday – with investors nervously looking ahead to the closing of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting on Wednesday – as big tech stocks spearheaded falls and new inflation data spooked markets.
Markets fell for the second straight day before a big Fed decision.
Important facts
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to around 100 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.1%.
Shares fell for the second straight day, with investors continuing to exit high-priced tech stocks: Microsoft and Adobe lost 3.3% and 6.6% respectively, while electric car maker Tesla lost nearly 1%.
New inflation data also scared the markets: Wholesale prices rose the fastest since records began in November (through 2010) and rose 9.6% year over year, according to the Ministry of Labor.
Investors, meanwhile, will be keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve’s updates as the central bank begins its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday.
Most officials – including Fed chairman Jerome Powell – have suggested that the central bank may need to accelerate tapering of its $ 120 million monthly bond purchase program, which could lead to earlier than expected rate hikes.
The markets also digested more news about Omicron, with the World Health Organization warning Tuesday that the new variant of Covid is spreading faster than previous versions of the virus.