had begun to be felt in an economy that may be slowing faster than expected, but that the full interest rate increases would not be apparent for months.
“There’s nothing specific in Brainard’s comments that makes you say the Fed is changing its policy but there’s at least some signs that the Fed is not proceeding blindly on a rate hiking restrictive path,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Connecticut. “Dimon’s comments definitely didn’t help. A lackluster downward market didn’t need those comments. They’ve been balanced out somewhat by Brainard.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93.91 points, or 0.32%, to 29,202.88; the S&P 500 lost 27.27 points, or 0.75%, at 3,612.39; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 110.30 points, or 1.04%, to 10,542.10. The Nasdaq led the declines and registered its lowest closing level since July 2020 as chip stocks sold off sharply on the Biden administration’s sweeping set of export controls published on Friday, October 7, including a measure to cut off China from certain semiconductors made with US equipment.