Nasdaq leads Wall Street lower as rate hike worries spark tech rout

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 17, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Aug 19 (Reuters) – Wall Street fell on Friday with megacap growth and technology stocks leading a broader market selloff as rate hike worries sapped risk appetite.

Stocks have wavered this week after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s July meeting were released on Wednesday, as investors tried to get an accurate reading of the central bank’s monetary policy tightening path.

The blue-chip Dow (.DJI) was on track to post slim weekly gains, while the Nasdaq (.IXIC) and the S&P 500 (.SPX) were headed for their first weekly loss after four straight weeks of gains.

“Lot of individual not so great news here today and it’s just manifesting in an overall market selloff,” said Dennis Dick, retail trader at Triple D Trading, pointing to weak results from Deere & Co (DE.N), inflation numbers in Germany and a selloff in meme stocks and cryptocurrencies.

“You’re getting a little bit of profit taking (after) a pretty good run for the last six weeks.”

Deere fell 2.8% after it missed earnings estimates as the world’s largest heavy equipment maker continues to grapple with parts shortages stemming from supply chain snarls. read more

The S&P 500 industrials sector (.SPLRCI) fell 1%.

High-growth and technology stocks such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) declined nearly 2% as U.S. Treasury bond yields climbed, mimicking European bonds after Germany reported record-high increases in monthly producer prices.

Banks (.SPXBK) also fell 1.3% and were on track to end the week lower, potentially snapping their six-week winning streak.

Meanwhile, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said on Friday the U.S. central bank’s efforts to control inflation could lead to a recession, but it needn’t be “calamitous”.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday he was leaning toward supporting a third straight 75-basis-point rate hike in September, while San Francisco Fed colleague Mary Daly said hiking rates by 50 or 75 basis points next month would be “reasonable”. read more

At 09:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 192.74 points, or 0.57%, at 33,806.30, the S&P 500 was down 38.75 points, or 0.90%, at 4,244.99, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 187.97 points, or 1.45%, at 12,777.37.

The Fed has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 225 bps since March to fight four decade-high inflation.

Focus next week will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on economic outlook at the annual global central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. read more

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks dropped following a sudden selloff in bitcoin, with crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O) and miner Marathon Digital (MARA.O) down 8.5% and 11.5%, respectively. read more

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.O) plunged 41.1% as billionaire investor Ryan Cohen exited the struggling home goods retailer by selling his stake. read more

General Motors Co (GM.N) rose 1.8% after it said it would reinstate quarterly dividend payouts. read more

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 7.56-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 5.16-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and 29 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 35 new lows.

Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta

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