April 4 (Reuters) – Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday after evidence of a cooling economy fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to stave off decades of high inflation could trigger a deep recession. .
All three major indexes fell as data showed US job openings in February fell to the lowest level in nearly two years, suggesting the labor market is cooling, while factory orders fell for a second next month.
Monday’s data also pointed to weakening US manufacturing activity.
“The number of job openings has decreased, which has people worried that hiring is too slow, and that will be bad for the economy. That feeds recessionary fears,” said Sal Bruno, Chief Investment Officer at IndexIQ in New York.
Bank stocks took a hit after JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) CEO Jaime Dimon warned in a letter to shareholders that the US banking crisis is ongoing and its impact will be felt for many years. year.
Bank of America (BAC.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) fell more than 2%, and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) fell 1.9%.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, seven declined, led lower by industrials (.SPLRCI), down 2.25%, followed by a 1.72% loss in energy (.SPNY).
The S&P 500 fell 0.58% to end the session at 4,100.68 points, closing lower for the first time in a week.
The Nasdaq fell 0.52% to 12,126.33 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.59% to 33,403.04 points.
Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), viewed as the bellwether for the industrial sector, fell 5.4%.
Heavyweight chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA.O ) lost 1.8%, weighing more than any other S&P 500 decliner stock.
Health care (.SPXHC) and utilities (.SPLRCU), which many investors expect will hold up better during the economic downturn, were among several S&P 500 sector indexes that gained on Tuesday.
Interest rate futures trading shows that bets are now tilted toward a Fed pause in May, with the probability of a 25-basis point rate hike at 42%, compared to about 60% before data, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch tool.
So far in 2023, the S&P 500 has gained nearly 7% and remains down about 15% from its record high close in January 2022.
Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (VORB.O) fell 23.2% after the satellite launch company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to failure to secure long-term funding.
Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N) fell 23.5% after the chain theater chain said it agreed to settle litigation and continue converting its preferred stock into common shares.
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.O) fell 8% after a SPAC linked to former US President Donald Trump delayed filing its annual financial report.
Volume on US exchanges was relatively light, with 10.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 12.8 billion shares over the past 20 sessions.
Across the US stock market (.AD.US), declining stocks outpaced rising ones by a 2.2-to-one ratio.
S&P 500 posts 14 new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 64 new highs and 238 new lows.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru and Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Shounak Dasgupta and Deepa Babington
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