Stocks edged lower in the morning trading on Wall Street
Thursday, giving up most of the big gains made on Wednesday amid relief that
the Federal Reserve wouldn’t be as aggressive as some feared in raising
interest rates to fight inflation.

The sharp fall came after the Federal Reserve on
Wednesday announced to hike its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage
point at tries to stabilize constantly rising inflation. The central bank also
added that it wasn’t considering even bigger rate hikes in the coming months.

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The S&P 500 fell 115.55 points or 2.69% to 4,184.22
as of 10:37 a.m. Eastern Time Zone. The benchmark index jumped 3% on Wednesday
for its biggest surge since May 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 669.43 points or
1.97% to 33,391.63. The Nasdaq slipped 534.43 points or 4.12% to 12,425.37.

All major indexes are still on track for solid weekly
gains following Wednesday’s rally.

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Bond yields surged well. The yield on the 10-year
Treasury increased to 3.03% from 2.92% late Wednesday, reaching its highest
mark since late 2018.

Technology companies saw some of the biggest losses and
pulled down the broader market, in a reversal from the strong rally they made a
day earlier. Apple slipped 3.4% and Microsoft fell 3.9%. E-commerce giant
Amazon fell 6.4% and Google’s parent Alphabet fell 4.3%.

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Energy stocks stood stronger than the rest of the market
as US crude oil prices increased 1.4%. Energy markets remain volatile as the
conflict in Ukraine continues and demand for oil remains high amid a supply
crunch. European countries are trying to shift energy supplies from Russian and
are considering an embargo. On Thursday, OPEC+ countries decided to gradually
increase the flows of crude they send to the world.

Higher energy prices have kept the investors worried as
they try to anticipate how inflation will ultimately impact businesses,
consumer behaviour and overall economic growth.

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The latest move by the Fed to raise interest rates by a
half-percentage point had been widely expected. Markets stabilized this week
ahead of the policy update, but Wall Street was concerned the Fed might choose
to hike rates by three-quarters of a percentage point in the coming months. Fed
Chair Jerome Powell gave relief from those concerns, saying the central bank is
“not actively considering” such an increase.

The Fed said that it will start reducing its huge $9
trillion balance sheet, which consists mainly of Treasury and mortgage bonds,
starting June 1.

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The latest corporate financial reports are also being
reviewed by investors trying to anticipate inflation’s impact on the economy.
Cereal maker Kellogg gained 4.1% and energy company ConocoPhillips jumped 1.7%
after reporting strong financial results. Etsy tanked 15.5% after giving a weak
outlook. Twitter grew 3.6% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he had secured more
backing for his bid to take over the company.