The Dow Jones Industrials stepped back 140.94 points, to commence Wednesday and June at 32,849.18.
The S&P 500 dropped 17.14 points to 4,115.01
The NASDAQ Composite lost 12.67 points to 12,068.72.
Fresh data released Wednesday morning showed job openings declined sharply in April.
Also weighing on investor sentiment, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the economy is headed for a “hurricane” and “you better brace yourself.”
On the upside, Salesforce surged more than 12% after the company’s first-quarter results topped expectations.
However, the ride for stock investors was far more turbulent than the month-end results suggest. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into bear market territory last month, trading more than 20% below a record at one point. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is deep in a bear market — down 25.5% from an all-time high.
Traders in May pored over a raft of mixed quarterly results that included some big misses from bellwether names like Walmart.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve at the start of May hiked rates by 50 basis points to quell an inflationary surge not seen in decades.
The first day of June marks the start of the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet, which ballooned to nearly $9 trillion during the COVID pandemic.
Treasury prices crumbled, raising yields to 2.93% from Tuesday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.78 to $116.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $2.80 to $1,839.90 U.S. an ounce.