Equities have struggled recently following a five-month rally that started in November, in part due to expectations the Fed was likely to cut interest rates in the first half of the year. ― Reuters picNEW YORK, April 20 — The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended lower yesterday as Netflix shares weighed, but American Express kept the Dow afloat after quarterly earnings from both companies, while growing pessimism that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates soon also dented sentiment.
But a recent string of hotter-than-expected inflation data, strong labour market data, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that have sparked a rise in oil prices, and comments from Federal Reserve officials including Chair Jerome Powell has caused market participants to dial back the timing of any rate cut from the central bank.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 3.05 per cent, the Nasdaq declined 5.52 per cent, and the Dow climbed 0.01 per cent. The S&P suffered its biggest weekly decline since March 2023 and the Nasdaq its largest since the week of October 31, 2022. Chip-related stocks, some of the best performers of the year thanks to their association with artificial intelligence, also tumbled, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 4.12 per cent. The index recorded its biggest weekly percentage decline in nearly two years with a plunge of 9.23 per cent.
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