U.S. stocks were heading lower in the final hour of trade Thursday as long-term Treasury rates shot above 4% and a surprisingly resilient U.S. economy ramped up concerns of the Federal Reserve needing to keep rates higher for longer to contain inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was down about 223 points, or 0.6%, to about 35,298, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
was 0.5% lower and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
was off 0.4%, at last check.
“The entire advance in the stock market was a recession is going to happen and the Fed is going to lower rates,” said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management, in a phone interview. But second-quarter GDP data sped up to 2.4% on a yearly basis compared with 2% growth in the quarter ended in March, according to a Thursday update.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell also said Wednesday that Fed staff view a U.S. recession as avoidable, in a press conference after the central bank bumped up its policy rate to the highest level in 22 years.
Investors on Thursday also were focused on a report indicated that Japan may be looking to throw in the towel on its policy of yield curve control, or keeping borrowing rates in check. Yields in the 10-year Treasury
TMUBMUSD10Y,
and 30-year note
TMUBMUSD30Y,
were both shooting higher, above 4%, at last check, according to FactSet.
