Dow dives more than 500 points in another wild session
U.S. stocks were whipsawed for a second straight session Thursday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average registered its third-largest point drop in its history.
The blue-chip index tumbled about 546 points, or 2.13 percent, as investors continued to trade on concerns over rising interest rates. The Dow lost about 832 points in Wednesday trading.
The broader S&P 500 dipped 57 points, about 2 percent, while the Nasdaq was down 93 points, or 1.25 percent.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37961.69 | +186.31 | +0.49% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5001.81 | -9.31 | -0.19% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15465.801902 | -135.70 | -0.87% |
The market suffered another volatile session in which the Dow tumbled nearly 700 points at the lows of the session before it clawed back some of those losses. The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," jumped more than 12 percent.
Amid the selling, President Trump continued to hammer the Federal Reserve. His first remarks came Wednesday when he said the central bank “has gone crazy" with their rate hikes.
“I think the Fed is making a mistake. They’re so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy,” Trump told reporters on his way to a rally in Pennsylvania. He kept the insults coming on Thursday, appearing on "Fox and Friends" in a wide-ranging interview, which included his thoughts on fiscal policy makers.
The rout followed fast-rising bond yields and signs of inflation, which led investors to worry that profit margins could narrow.
Of note, on Thursday the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note retreated slightly but remained above 3 percent.
Cliff Hodge, director of investments for Cornerstone Wealth, said the pullback in equities presents a potential buying opportunity.
“There has been a lot of technical selling driven by algorithmic computer programs, which pay no attention to fundamentals,” Hodge said. “We see recession risk as low in the short-term, and historically, lasting bear markets don’t manifest without [a] recession.”
A trio of earnings from the big banks on Friday including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup will also be closely watched. Those stocks remained under pressure Thursday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 181.25 | +1.17 | +0.65% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 58.74 | +1.56 | +2.73% |
| C | CITIGROUP INC. | 58.32 | +0.15 | +0.26% |
Economic data released Thursday included a report on inflation. The Consumer Price Index rose a modest 0.1 percent in September, below the estimated rise of 0.2 percent. CPI was up 2.3 percent year-over-year last month, also below the Refinitiv estimate of 2.4 percent. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also came in slightly below estimates. Weekly jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 214,000.
Global markets took a hit followng the selling of U.S. assets on Wednesday. Overnight in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite closed the session plunging 5.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished the day down 3.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei ended the day down 3.9 percent. European stocks also dropped.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLD | SPDR GOLD SHARES TRUST - EUR ACC | 220.34 | +0.75 | +0.34% |
Commodites were mixed. West Texas Intermediate oil slipped 3.1 percent to $70.97 a barrel. Gold benefited from investors' flight to safety amid volatile equities. The metal surged to a two-month high.
FOX Business' Ken Martin and Charles Brady contributed to this report.