Andrew Burton/Getty Images
- US stocks extended losses Thursday, ending a see-saw session following the market’s rout the previous day.
- The Nasdaq Composite had edged higher in the session but failed stage a recovery from its 3.3% slide.
- Next up for investors is Friday’s US jobs report.
US stocks lost more ground Thursday, with the Dow’s blue-chips extending a sell-off as investors still appeared skittish after the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes signaled policy makers will withdraw more support for the economy than markets had expected.
Wall Street’s major benchmarks swung between gains and losses during Thursday’s session in the wake of a rout that saw the Nasdaq Composite slumping 3.3% on Wednesday. High-growth tech stocks bore the brunt of the market’s reaction to Fed minutes that showed an increasingly hawkish stance among policymakers. Tech stocks struggled Thursday as the closely watched 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.75% for the first time since March 2021.
Some investors seemed “hesitant to put on massive positions” before Friday’s nonfarm payroll report from the US government, said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note Thursday.
Here’s where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 4,696.05, down 0.1%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,236.47, down 0.47% (170.64 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,080.87, down 0.13%
“The big question for many traders is how high yields will go up and at one point will it become a problem for the economy,” he said. “Most of Wall Street has an upbeat outlook for 2022, but the risks of a Fed policy mistake, US geopolitical tensions with both Russia and China, and inflationary pressures, pose serious risks to the stock market later in the year.”
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard in a speech Thursday said he foresees the Fed moving to raising interest rates as early as March.
Around the markets, crypto bull Mike Novogratz said he expects bitcoin to hit a bottom at $38,000 as institutional investors prepare to buy the cryptocurrency in the midst of a sell-off as 2022 gets underway.
Rivian stock plunged and dipped below its IPO price of $78 during the session, as shares of the EV startup reeled from Amazon’s new deal with Stellantis to purchase competing electric vans.
Mark Mobius says the tech sell-off is a good time to load up on FAANG stocks.
The growth of cryptocurrency markets in 2021 also came with an 80% rise in crypto crimes, new analysis shows.
Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude added on 1.9%, at $79.24 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, tacked on 1.5%, at $81.97.
Gold slumped by 2.1% to $1,787.60 per ounce. The 10-year yield was up nearly 2 basis points to 1.727%.
Bitcoin narrowed its loss, down 0.4% at $43,052.52. A bear market in bitcoin, ether and other altcoins has driven down the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies to about $2 trillion on Thursday.
Read the original article on Business Insider 
