US Stock Market: Dow, S&P500, Nasdaq, Russell ended in red on Wednesday

US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as market sentiments were weak and Wall Street lost a big share of the gains it had built in a rally running up to Election Day. The S&P 500 fell 79.54 points, or 2.1, to 3,748.57 and pared most of its gains from the three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 646.89 points, or 2%, to 32,513.94. The Nasdaq composite plunged 263.02, or 2.5%, to 10,353.17.

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Concerns rose about possible spillovers into other markets from the crypto industry’s latest confidence crisis, where prices are falling again, while a series of disappointing earnings reports from big-name companies like The Walt Disney Company also hurt stocks.

Investors are waiting for the US government’s October inflation report scheduled to be released on Thursday. The report will likely have a big impact on how much further the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates to curb inflation. Worries about such hikes have been by far the dominant force moving Wall Street this year.

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The Federal Reserve has already raised its key overnight interest rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, up from virtually zero in March, and more investors expect it to top 5% next year. To cool down the hottest inflation in four decades, the Fed is intentionally slowing the economy and jobs market by making it more expensive for people and companies to borrow money.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps determine rates for mortgages and other loans, slipped to 4.08% from 4.13% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which often tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.60% from 4.66%.

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Cryptocurrencies have witnessed some of the worst pain from the Fed’s sudden move away from the record-low interest rates instituted during the pandemic’s recession. Bitcoin plunged even further Wednesday, below $15,900 from its record of nearly $69,000 set last year. It’s down more than 14% over the last day. Ethereum plunged 17%.

This latest slump in the crypto market comes amid fears about the financial strength of one of the industry’s biggest exchanges, FTX. Binance, one of the biggest crypto exchanges said it was walking away from a deal to buy its troubled rival, which needed rescue after users started scrambling to pull their money out.

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Stocks of companies related to the crypto economy also continued to sink. Robinhood Markets fell another 13.8% and is down 31.6% so far this week. Coinbase Global tumbled 9.5% to bring its drop for the week to 21.8%

Disney slipped 13.2%, the largest loss in the S&P 500 after reporting results for the third quarter that fell significantly short of analysts’ expectations.

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Facebook parent Meta Platforms rose 5.2% after saying it will cut costs by laying off 11,000 or nearly 13% of its workforce, as struggles with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes. However, it is still down nearly 70% for the year so far.