Another slide in technology companies helped pull stocks lower on
The S&P 500 lost 0.8% after having been down 1.7% earlier. The selling was widespread, with eight of the 11 sectors that make up the benchmark index ending the day lower. The sectors that include Amazon, Facebook and
The selling came a day after the
Low interest rates are usually a boon for investors, sending stocks soaring. So why the sell-off? Analysts gave varying reasons for the market’s weakness. Among them: the gloomy outlook Fed Chair
“The market really got a bunch of nothing from the Fed,” said
While the market took more losses Thursday, they selling eased toward the end of the day. The S&P 500 fell 28.48 points to 3,357.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 130.40 points, or 0.5%, to 27,901.98. It had been down 384 points.
The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, slid 140.19 points, or 1.3%, to 10,910.28. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks gave up 9.73 points, or 0.6%, to 1,542.60.
The sell-off cut into the market's gains this week on Monday and Tuesday. The S&P 500 is still up 0.5% for the week, but down 4.1% so far this month after five-straight monthly gains.
Another possibility for the downward turn the market has taken the past two days is the diminishing odds that
The Fed’s actions in the wake of the economic slump, along with any further actions, could have a diminishing impact and the latest statements may be a “warning shot across the bow of
A report on Thursday showed that another 860,000 workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. But partisan disagreements on
“Fundamentally, the economy is still moving in the right direction, but the risk of potentially jeopardizing the recovery from reduced fiscal support is becoming uncomfortably high,”
Economists say the impact of Congress’ inaction may already be showing in the data. Retail sales growth weakened last month, for example, as unemployed workers were no longer getting
Trump urged his fellow
“People are starting to realize that it does have a pretty big impact to not have that extra money coming in that got cut off at the end of July,” said
The number of workers applying for jobless benefits has been coming down slowly, but it remains historically high.
The high unemployment figures, along with other signs of a weaker recovery and a potential second wave of the virus, are weighing on investors.
“You put that alongside the Fed starting to pull back the punch bowl, or at least not refill it as much as people wanted, it‘s enough to spook markets,”
Big Tech stocks were again at the center of
Among the gainers was
Stocks in markets around the world closed lower.
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AP Business Writer
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