Wall Street ended modestly lower Monday after giving up an early gain and bouncing around for much of the day. The indecisive trading came on the first trading day after the market posted its best week since November 2020 and as the chair of the Federal Reserve said the central bank was prepared to move more aggressively if need be to contain inflation, the AP reports. Boeing fell 3.6% after one of its planes crashed in China with 132 people on board. The S&P 500 fell 1.94 points, less than 0.1%, to 4,461.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 201.94 points, 0.6%, to 34,552.99, and the Nasdaq fell 55.38 points, or 0.4%, to 13,838.46.
The pullback came after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would be open to raising rates by a half-point at multiple Fed meetings, if necessary. The Fed, which last week announced a quarter-point rate hike marking its first interest rate increase since 2018, hasn’t raised its benchmark rate by a half-point since May 2000. Big technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market. Microsoft fell 1.3% and Broadcom slid 2%.
Communication stocks, retailers, and other companies that rely on consumer spending also weighed on the market. Facebook parent, Meta Platforms, fell 3%, while Home Depot slid 3.3%. Energy stocks made solid gains as oil prices gained ground. US benchmark crude oil jumped 7.1% to settle at $112.12 per barrel, while Brent, the international standard, climbed 7.1% to settle at $115.62. (More stock market stories.)
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