Wall Street closed lower after the Federal Reserve meeting minutes

A screen displays a chart of stocks at a workstation on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled on Wednesday, with sharp declines in technology and other growth stocks, minutes after the Federal Reserve’s March meeting, increasing investors’ focus on the U.S. central bank’s plans to combat inflation.

Nasdaq high tech (nineteenth) It recorded a decrease of more than 2% for the second day in a row.

The minutes of the March 15-16 Federal Reserve showed that policymakers are gathering around plans to cut the central bank’s massive balance sheet as soon as next month. Read more

Wall Street’s major indexes were already solidly lower before the minutes were released, building on declines from the previous day when Fed Governor Lael Brainard’s comments raised concerns about the Fed taking more aggressive action to fight inflation.

“The Fed is determined to rein in inflation, and we can only hope and pray that there will be a soft landing for the economy and not a hard one that pushes us into recession,” said Tim Greske, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls. & Snyder.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) The Standard & Poor’s Index fell 144.67 points, or 0.42%, to 3,4496.51 points (.SPX) It lost 43.97 points, or 0.97%, to 4481.15 points, and the Nasdaq Composite (nineteenth) It fell 315.35 points, or 2.22%, to 13,888.82 points.

technology (.SPLRCT) and consumer appreciation (.SPLRCD) Both sectors fell 2.6%, while the S&P 500 growth index fell (.IGX) It decreased by about 2%.

Defensive sectors made gains led by a 2% rise in the utilities sector (.SPLRCU) and 1.6% increase for healthcare (.SPXHC) and real estate (.SPLRCR).

Wall Street indexes had already fallen sharply for the second day in a row before closely watched minutes, as investors continued to digest Brainard’s comments from Tuesday.

Brainard said she expects a combination of interest rate increases and a rapid balance sheet run-off to put US monetary policy in a “more neutral position” later this year. Read more

“It’s one of the more pessimistic members of the FOMC, so for it to come out aggressively in eliminating inflation pressures with more aggressive policy and tightening in interest rates, I think that took the market a little bit by surprise and I think you’d have to say, Anthony Saglimpin, market strategist,” said Anthony Saglimpin, a market strategist. Global at Ameriprise: “We’re seeing it continue today.”

The prospect of a more hawkish Fed has led to a tough start to the year for stocks, particularly technology and growth stocks whose valuations are more vulnerable to higher bond yields. The Ukrainian crisis has heightened concerns, particularly about worsening inflation as commodity prices rise.

In company news, JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) Shares tumbled 8.7% as it mounted a vigorous defense of its $3.6 billion unwanted bid to acquire ultra-low-cost airline Spirit. (Save. N). Read more

Declining issues outnumbered applicants on the New York Stock Exchange by 2.76 to 1; On the Nasdaq, the ratio was 2.56 to 1 in favor of declining stocks.

The S&P 500 hit 41 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows; The Nasdaq recorded 41 new highs and 202 new lows.

About 12.6 billion shares were traded on US stock exchanges, compared to the daily average of 13 billion shares over the last 20 sessions.

(Additional reporting by Louis Krauskopf in New York, Noel Randwich in San Francisco, Bansari Mayor Kamdar and Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalovila, Shunak Dasgupta and Richard Chang

Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.