by Sinéad Carew and Amruta Khandekar
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply lower on Thursday, dragged down by a weaker banking sector and as investors worried about an upcoming Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike ahead of the publication on Friday of a long-awaited monthly report on the job market in the United States.
The Dow Jones index fell 1.66%, or 543.54 points, to 32,254.86 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 73.69 points, or 1.85%, to 3,918.32 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 237.65 points (2.05%) to 11,338.36 points.
Rising during the session, in the wake of the publication of data showing a five-month record in the number of weekly jobless claims in the United States, the three main Wall Street indices tipped into the red, weighed down by fears related to future Fed actions.
The S&P-500 banking sector fell 6.6%, its weakest since last October, as investors turned their backs on it after SVB Financial Group launched a stock sell-off to bolster its cash position .
While unemployment figures suggested an easing in the labor market, possibly helping to dampen runaway inflation, investors were looking to the US Department of Labor’s monthly job creation report, expected Friday.
Conservative comments made this week by Fed chief Jerome Powell in two hearings before the US Congress also fueled concerns about the central bank’s monetary policy.
Financial markets and many traders are now anticipating a 50 basis point interest rate hike at the March 21-22 Fed meeting.
“There’s a lot of anticipation surrounding (Friday’s) jobs report,” commented Mona Mahajan, strategist at Edward Jones in New York, noting that data on inflation and retail sales will also be available. published by the Fed meeting.
While the rise in weekly jobless claims could be “the first sign that the labor market appears to be easing”, she said, “more data is needed to establish a trend”.
All of the major sectors of the S&P-500 ended the session in the red, including the financial sector, also affected by the decline in banking stocks and down 4%.
SVB Financial Group ended down 60% after plunging around 63% during the session, falling to its lowest level since August 2016.
General Electric rose more than 5% after confirming its full-year revenue forecast.
( Jean Terzian)
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