Stocks fell on Thursday, erasing the previous session’s gains, as tech stocks tumbled on the back of Apple’s decline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 603 points, or 2.03%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 2.59% and 3.29%, respectively.
Apple shares fell 3.7% after Bank of America Downgraded the tech stock from buy to neutral It cut its price target citing weak consumer sentiment.
A stronger-than-expected jobless claims report didn’t help sentiment, with the Federal Reserve likely to continue aggressive rate hikes to fight inflation, which is likely to hurt the labor market.
The 10-year US Treasury yield returned to trade at around 3.79%. A day earlier, it briefly posted 4%, its biggest one-day drop since 2020.
The moves followed a broader rally for stocks on Wednesday, the bank said The UK said it would buy bonds in a bid to help stabilize its financial markets and the sagging British pound. Sterling bowed A record low against the US dollar In recent days.
It marked a stark shift from the aggressive tightening campaign by many global central banks to tackle rising inflation.
The Dow rose more than 500 points, or 1.9%, on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 rose nearly 2% after hitting A new bear market low On Tuesday. Both indices saw six-day losses.
“We suspect the calm mood in markets on Wednesday marks an end to a recent period of heightened volatility or risk-off sentiment. For a sustained rally, investors will need to see solid evidence that inflation is coming under control. Banks will become less hawkish,” UBS’s Mark Heffel wrote in a Thursday note.
Wednesday’s rally put the major averages on pace for a losing week and the worst month since June. The Nasdaq composite led the monthly losses, down about 8.4%, while the Dow and S&P were off a slower pace of 7% and 7.5%, respectively.
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