Washington: US stock markets fell sharply on Thursday as major tech stocks declined and investor sentiment weakened ahead of crucial economic reports. The tech-led market sell-off sparked renewed concerns about interest rates, inflation trends, and the overall US economic outlook.
All of the main US indices, which monitor the performance of the biggest publicly traded corporations in the nation, finished the day lower. The Nasdaq Composite, which includes numerous tech companies, lost 2.1%, while the S&P 500 slid 1.7%.
The most valuable technological company in the world, Nvidia, saw a 3.5% fall. Since SoftBank, a Japanese investor, revealed it had sold its whole $5.8 billion shareholding, the corporation has faced criticism. The announcement heightened worries that several big tech firms might now be overpriced following months of sharp increases associated with enthusiasm for AI.
Additionally, investors are awaiting a number of US government reports that may provide insight into the state of the economy. The recent shutdown of the federal government has affected some of that data. The Trump administration said that because data gathering was halted by the shutdown, some information may be missing from the upcoming October jobs report.
Additionally, signals from representatives of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, caused market instability. They continue to worry about inflation and the possibility that interest rates will remain high for longer than anticipated.
According to Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, the uncertainty around interest rate decreases was the main cause of today’s losses.
“The story of today is that it’s because markets are thinking that the Fed is less likely to cut rates,” he noted.
Declines in other risky assets coincided with the collapse in stocks. For instance, Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 and has lost almost 20% of its value since early October.
As the dollar declined, US Treasury yields increased, with the 10-year yield reaching 4.12%.
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File Photo: IANS
–IANS
