Stocks fell sharply Thursday after new data showed retail sales fell more than expected in November, raising fears that the Federal Reserve’s relentless interest rate hikes are tipping the economy into a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 812.66 points, or 2.4%, to reach midday Thursday at 33,153.69.
The S&P 500 folded 104.11 points, or 2.6%, to 3,891.21.
The NASDAQ Composite Index dropped 334.18 points, or 3%, to 10,836.71.
The selloff was broad-based with only 17 stocks in the S&P 500 trading in positive territory. Mega-cap tech stocks declined, with shares of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet each down more than 3%.
Shares of Netflix fell more than 7% following a Digiday report that the streaming firm is offering to return money to advertisers after missing viewership targets.
Investors absorbed a disappointing retail sales report that suggested inflation is taking a toll on consumers. Retail sales fell 0.6% in November, according to the Commerce Department. That was a bigger loss than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% decline.
The central bank said it will continue hiking rates through 2023 and projected its fed funds rate to peak at a higher-than-expected 5.1%.
With Wednesday’s half a percentage point hike, the targeted range for rates is currently 4.25% to 4.5%, the highest in 15 years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 3.45% from Wednesday’s 3.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked $1.71 to $75.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $32.20 to $1,786.50 U.S. an ounce.
