The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 350.76 points, or 1%, to 33,596.34. Tuesday’s moves bring the Dow’s two-day losses to more than 830 points.
The S&P 500 subtracted 57.58 points, or 1.4%, to 3,941.26, falling for a fourth straight day.
The NASDAQ dropped 225.05 points, or 2%, to 11,014.89. With Tuesday’s losses, the S&P is already down 3.2% this week and the NASDAQ is off by 3.9%.
Media and bank stocks, which tend to suffer during recessions, led the losses. Paramount Global’s CEO warned of lower fourth-quarter advertising revenue, sending shares down nearly 7%. Morgan Stanley’s stock slumped amid news it’s planning to cut 2% of its workforce, continuing the recent layoff trend in the sector. Growth-focused technology names like Nvidia, Amazon and Meta Platforms also weighed on the market.
Better-than-expected November ISM Services data, which looks at the purchasing level of manufacturers as a gauge the health of the broader economy, pressured equities Monday. The report further fueled fears that the Federal Reserve will need to hike rates for longer than anticipated to bring down inflation.
Markets are largely expecting a 50-basis-point rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting, but remain conflicted over how long the central bank’s interest rate hiking campaign will need to last.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 3.53% from Monday’s 3.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $2.57 to $74.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $2.20 to $1,783.50 U.S. an ounce.
Selling Intensifies, Markets Take Heavy Losses