Stocks End Sharply Lower Ahead Of Fed Policy

Stock prices went down south on Wall Street on Tuesday, sliding lower and lower after a weak start, as concerns about inflation and uncertainty about the Fed's interest rate moves rendered the mood bearish.

The central bank, which is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday, is widely expected to leave interest rate unchanged. The accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post meeting press conference for clues about future interest rate moves.

Investors digested a mixed batch of earnings updates, and some disappointing economic data.

The major averages all ended sharply lower, with the Nasdaq suffering a more pronounced loss. The Dow ended down by 570.17 points or 1.49 percent at 37,815.92. The S&P 500 dropped 80.48 points or 1.57 percent to 5,035.69, while the Nasdaq tumbled 325.26 points or 2.04 percent to settle at 15,657.82.

A report from MNI Indicators showed Chicago-area business unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in the month of April.

The report said the Chicago business barometer dropped to 37.9 in April from 41.4 in March, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to 44.9.

With the unexpected decrease, the Chicago business barometer fell to its lowest level since November 2022.

A report released by the Conference Board showed consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than expected in the month of April.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slid to 97.0 in April from a downwardly revised 103.1 in March. Economists had expected the index to dip to 140.0 from the 104.7 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, data from the Labor Department showed labor costs in the U.S. rose more than expected last quarter, up by 1.2%, indicating a rise in wage pressures.

Microsoft Corporation shares dropped about 3.2 percent. Amazon ended down by 3.3 percent. Apple Inc., NVIDIA Corporation, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, JP Morgan Chase, Oracle, Chevron, Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Visa Inc and Walmart ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Eli Lilly and Company shares rallied nearly 6 percent, after the company reported stronger than expected quarterly earnings. 3M Company surged higher after reporting strong first quarter earnings.

PayPal shares climbed higher after the company said its total payment volume in the first quarter rose by 14% to $403.9 billion.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with Chinese markets underperforming after the release of mixed PMI data.

European stocks closed weak after a cautious session ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. Investors digested the latest batch of economic data from the region.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.68 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.04 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended down 1.03 percent and 0.99 percent, respectively.

Preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that the euro area economy expanded in the first quarter after two consecutive declines, with gross domestic product growing by more-than-expected 0.3% on quarter following a 0.1% fall each in the fourth and third quarters of 2023.

The German economy also avoided recession in the first quarter, with GDP growing more-than-expected 0.2% sequentially in the first quarter, in contrast to the revised 0.5% decrease in the preceding period.

Meanwhile, headline inflation in the euro area came in at 2.4% in April, matching forecasts. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.6%.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.70 at $81.93 a barrel. Gold futures ended down by $54.00 or about 2.3% at $2,291.40 an ounce.

In the currency market, the dollar was at 1.0671 against the Euro, and fetching 157.83 yen a unit.

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