(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Wednesday as the previous session’s rebound gave way to fears over economic growth and inflation as market participants took notice of a statement from chairman Jerome Powell. of the Federal Reserve (Fed), for his hearing in the United States Congress.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 264.13 points, or 0.87%, to 30,266.12 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.72% to 3,737.65 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.52%, or 57.954 points, to 11,011.348.
In a written statement released ahead of his ongoing Senate committee hearing, Jerome Powell said the Fed was “strongly committed” to bringing down inflation, which is at a 40-year high, and that its officials were acting “quickly to achieve this”.
He added that the pace of further rate hikes would continue to depend on indicators and how the economic outlook evolves.
Faced with inflation, several central banks have decided to accelerate their monetary tightening at the risk of plunging the economy into recession.
“We had a very nice rally on Tuesday, but the factors that had investors worried have not changed and they continue to fear that we are heading into a recession,” said Sam Stovall, chief strategy officer at investment in CFRA Research in New York.
In values, oil companies are falling with the drop in crude prices. Chevron and Exxonmobil lost 5.16% and 4.04% respectively.
As for the banks, JPMorgan Chase, Bank Of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs lost between 1% and 1.80% with the sharp decline in bond yields.
Boeing is down 1.66% after its chief executive said he expects continued supply difficulties through the end of 2023.
Against the tide, cosmetics maker Revlon, popular with retail investors after filing for bankruptcy protection, rose 41.63% after falling 75% last week.
(Writing by Valentine Baldassari, editing by Kate Entringer)
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