The majority of Wall Street equities fell in early trade Tuesday after plunging into a bear market on fears that soaring inflation may force central banks to slam the brakes on the economy too aggressively.

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The S&P 500 slid 14.15 points, or 0.4%, to 3,735.48 as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s statement on Wednesday about how quickly interest rates will rise. It fluctuated between losses and gains throughout the day as a few large corporations demonstrated their financial resilience with higher earnings and dividend distributions to shareholders.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 151.91 points, or 0.5%, to 30,364.83. The Nasdaq composite increased 19.12 points, or 0.2%, to 10,828.35 after moving between a 0.7% loss and a 1.1% gain.

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Despite the swings, trading across markets was still calmer than during Monday’s worldwide rout, which sent the S&P 500 down 3.9%. Stocks fell more than 1% in Tokyo and Paris but rose that much in Shanghai. A measure of nervousness among investors on Wall Street eased, even as Treasury yields again pierced their highest levels in more than a decade.

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Treasury yields continued to climb, with the two-year yield touching its highest level since November 2007, before the financial crisis, according to Tradeweb. The 10-year yield during the day reached its highest level since April 2011.

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They also had a relatively reliable warning signal of recession in the bond market flashing on and off. In afternoon trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed back above the two-year yield, at 3.47% versus 3.41%. That’s typically how things look in the bond market.

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On Wall Street, Oracle soared 10.4% after it reported stronger revenue and earnings for its latest quarter than analysts expected. FedEx jumped 14.4% after it boosted its dividend payout by more than 50%.

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It was the first trading for U.S. stocks after the S&P 500 closed Monday at 21.8% below its record set early this year. That put it in a bear market, which is what investors call a drop of 20% or more.