WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, largely offsetting the upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 dropping to nearly four-month lows.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow plunged 768.11 points or 1.6 percent to 46,225.15, the Nasdaq tumbled 327.11 points or 1.5 percent to 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 slumped 91.39 points or 1.4 percent to 6,624.70.
Following an early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading amid a negative reaction to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
In his post-meeting press conference, Powell said the U.S. is seeing 'some progress on inflation' but 'not as much as we had hoped.'
While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that 'you won't see the rate cut' if there isn't further progress on inflation.
Powell also said the Fed is facing a situation where 'the risks to the labor market are to the downside, which would call for lower rates, and the risks to inflation are to the upside, which would call for higher rates or not cutting anyway.'
The Fed chief's remarks came after the central bank announced its decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50 to 3.75 percent after also leaving rates unchanged after its last meeting in January.
Most Fed officials voted in favor of keeping rates unchanged, although Fed Governor Stephen I. Miran continued to prefer cutting rates by a quarter point.
The weakness seen earlier in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of February.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand advanced by 0.7 percent in February after climbing by 0.5 percent in January. Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices accelerated to 3.4 percent in February from 2.9 percent in January. Yearly growth was expected to remain unchanged.
Along with the recent spike in crude oil prices due to the Middle East war, the data added to recent concerns about the outlook for inflation.
Sector News
Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeting by 6.4 percent to a two-month closing low.
Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.0 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Telecom stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 2.7 percent.
Housing, retail and pharmaceutical also showed notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.0 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved notably lower, partly offsetting the strength seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 5.7 basis points to 4.259 percent.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
