The U.S. New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) fell on concerns over tightening of the Fed, the U.S. central bank.
On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the 19th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed at 33,044.56, down 252.40 points (0.76%) from the previous day.
The S&P 500 Index fell 30.26 points (0.77%) from the previous session to 3898.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 104.74 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 18,852.27.
Concerns over an economic recession due to real estate market indicators released on the same day seem to have been reflected in the stock market. The number of new housing starts in December last year, announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, fell 1.4% from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis to 1.382 million units per year. Compared to the same period last year, it fell 21.8% and fell for four consecutive months.
On top of that, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of new unemployment claims last week (January 8-14) was 190,000, the lowest level in four months.
The dollar index, which shows the dollar’s value against the currencies of six major countries, fell 0.15 percent from the previous session.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February next year closed at USD 80.33 a barrel, up 85 cents (1.07%) from the previous trading day.
Experts on the NYSE said the Fed interest rate hike was expected to continue due to the solid labor market, which will further increase concerns over an economic slowdown.
“Despite the layoffs of large tech companies, the job market is still hot,” Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a report. “The job market needs to be broken if the Fed wants to freeze interest rates.”
Henry Allen, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, told MarketWatch, “Government bonds are rising, and the risk-averse trend means that U.S. stocks are less resilient as concerns over an economic recession rise.”
