by Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Thursday, with indices posting their biggest declines in decades, as the start of the year was complicated by, among other things, the epidemic of coronavirus, the war in Ukraine and rampant inflation.
The Dow Jones index fell -0.82%, or 253.88 points, to 30,775.43 points.
The broader S&P-500 fell 33.45 points, or -0.88%, to 3,785.38 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 149.16 points (-1.33%) to 11,028.74 points.
The S&P 500 posted its biggest percentage drop for a first half since 1970. The Nasdaq posted its biggest percentage drop for the January-June period, and the Dow, its biggest percentage drop in the first half since 1962 .
The beginning of the year was heavily disrupted by the resumption of the coronavirus epidemic, the war in Ukraine, runaway inflation and aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, which fuels fears of a possible recession.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have seen a struggle between inflation and slowing growth, attempts to balance tightening financial policies in order to address concerns while avoiding general panic,” explained Paul Kim, CEO and Founder of Simplify ETFs. “I think we’re probably already in a recession and the question now is how tough it will be.”
“We’re starting to see a slowdown in household spending,” said Oliver Pursche, vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York. “Inflation seems to be weighing on the average consumer and that’s showing up in corporate results that are dragging the markets down in their wake.”
Of the eleven S&P sector indices, only the energy sector has progressed this year, driven by rising crude prices due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Earnings season is due to begin in the coming weeks and 130 of the companies that make up the S&P have already reported preliminary results.
Inflation concerns will have investors paying particular attention to the outlook for companies.
(With contributions from Shreyashi Sanyal and Amruta Khandekar; French version Camille Raynaud)