Traders’ concerns about the possibility of further increases in Federal Reserve interest rates weighed on U.S. stocks on Thursday, the first day of September.
Dropping by 260 points (0.8%), the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced losses. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9% and the S&P 500 fell 1.2%. It looks like the main averages will all end the week down by approximately 3%.
The adjustments occurred as the yield on 2-year U.S. Treasuries hit a record high of 3.516% on Thursday, the highest level since November 2007.
After the chipmaker said that the U.S. government is banning some sales in China, Nvidia shares dropped by more than 8%, adding to the losses.
For the week ending August 27th, unemployment claims in the United States dropped to 232,000. That wasn’t as strong as predicted by a poll of economists conducted by Dow Jones. It was the lowest level seen since June 25th and a decrease from the prior session.
The key indices have fallen for four days in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 0.9% on August’s final trading day. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by nearly 0.8%.
At the end of the month, the Dow was down around 4.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 4.2%, and the Nasdaq was down 4.6%.
Since September is often a bad month for the markets, investors are questioning whether or not the S&P 500 will test its June lows. This is in light of recent hawkish statements from Fed officials, who show no indications of slowing down on interest rate hikes.
Oil prices have continued to drop as concerns about demand destruction linger in the commodities market. Early Thursday, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.8%, to $87.97, while Brent futures hovered at $96.53.
Changes in crude oil futures are the result of the commodity’s longest losing trend in more than two years, which now stands at three consecutive monthly declines. In August, the price of WTI oil fell by more than 9%, the worst monthly drop since November.
