wall street fell on Tuesday on a wave of widespread selling, after data from the consumer confidence they discouraged investors and stoked fears that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive fight against inflation could tip the economy into recession.
The three main stock indices of USA closed sharply lower, and the nasdaq the one that more Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation Y amazon.com were the values most affected.
With two days to go before the end of the month and the second quarter, the benchmark index S&P 500 is on track for its biggest percentage drop for a first half since 1970.
The S&P 500 lost 78.56 points, or 2.01%, to 3,821.55 units, while the nasdaq it was down 343.01 points, or 2.98%, to 11,181.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average it fell 491.27 points, or 1.56%, to 30,946.99 units.
All three indices are close to also closing two consecutive quarterly declines for the first time since 2015.
“At some point this aggressive selling is going to dissipate, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be any time soon,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.
Data released Tuesday morning showed the Conference Board’s consumer sentiment index fell to the lowest level since February 2021, and near-term expectations are the most pessimistic in nearly a decade.
“(Investors are) sitting around wondering if declining consumer confidence will translate into a recession and we haven’t resolved that question,” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.
“We haven’t seen the second quarter earnings reports, so we don’t know if companies are seeing a slowdown,” he added.
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