Stocks ended widely lower on Wall Street Thursday as JPMorgan Chase started the recent round of corporate earnings for big banks with poor results and a warning about the economy.
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Wall Street is also analysing the most recent government statistics, which show that inflation remains high and shows little signs of abating, even as central banks try to ease their hold on companies and consumers by raising interest rates.
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The S&P 500 slid 11.40 points, or 0.3%, to 3,790.38. In the benchmark index, nearly three out of every four equities closed in the red. To 30,630.17, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 142.62 points or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 3.60 points, or less than 0.1%, to 11,251.19.
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Banks had some of the biggest losses and weighed heavily on the market. JPMorgan Chase fell 3.5% after reporting a sharp drop in earnings for its latest quarter, falling short of forecasts.
Inflation and the Federal Reserve’s fight against it remain key concerns for Wall Street. Inflation at the wholesale level climbed 11.3% in June compared with a year earlier. It is the latest painful reminder that inflation is running hot, following a report on Wednesday that showed prices at the consumer level were 9.1% higher last month than a year earlier.
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Pervasive inflation has been squeezing businesses and consumers for months. More importantly for Wall Street, it prompted an aggressive reversal for the Fed on its interest rate policy. The central bank is now raising rates in an effort to slow economic growth and cool inflation, but that has raised concerns that it could go too far and actually cause a recession.
Small-company stocks fell more than the broader market, in another signal that investors are worried about economic growth. The Russell 2000 fell 18.53 points, or 1.1%, to 1,707.51.
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Several big technology companies rose and helped offset some of the losses elsewhere in the market. Apple rose 2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects mortgage rates, rose to 2.96% from 2.90% late Thursday. It remains lower than the two-year Treasury, which is at 3.12%. That’s a relatively rare occurrence, and some investors see it as an ominous signal of a potential recession.
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Concerns about the Fed’s rate hikes have prompted Bank of America to forecast a mild recession hitting the economy in the second half of the year and more pain for traders. The benchmark S&P 500 index has already slumped into a bear market, down 20% from its most recent high in January, and likely hasn’t hit bottom yet, according to the bank.