Stocks are falling on Wall Street Tuesday after two reports on the economy came in weaker than expected, reports AP.
The SandP 500 was 0.7% lower in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 259 points, or 0.8%, at 33,341, as of 12:05 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.
Investors are still split on whether the U.S. economy will fall into a recession and how badly corporate profits are set to drop.
The biggest question remains what the Federal Reserve will do next with interest rates after hiking them furiously over the last year to get high inflation under control.
The reports on job openings and factory orders released Tuesday may have heightened recession fears. But they may also give the Fed reason to hold rates steady at its next meeting in May for the first time in more than a year, offering a possible upside for markets.
One report showed employers advertised 9.9 million job openings in February, a sharper fall-off than economists expected.
The Fed has been paying close attention to the numbers because the job market has remained so strong despite higher rates.
The hope is that a softening in the number of openings could take some pressure off inflation without having to throw many people out of work.
Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 0.4% to $80.07 per barrel, to lessen pressure a bit on inflation. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.6% to $84.41 per barrel.
Source: Bahrain News Agency