Stock markets saw a fall in many stock prices during the week giving up any early strength they had shown as Wall Street continues to struggle this year in an environment of rising interest rates.
After giving up a 2.1% gain earlier in the day, the Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 1.3% on Thursday. The Nasdaq, which has many of the market’s top tech names, finished Wednesday more than 10% lower than its November high, signaling a technical drop.
After rising more than 400 points earlier in the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 313.26 points to 34,715.39 on Thursday. This was the first time since December 2021, the 30-stock average closed below its 200-day moving average and for the first time since October 2021, the S&P 500 fell below 4,500 points.
United Airlines’ stock dropped after the firm released its quarterly results and warned that the omicron virus has hampered bookings and may postpone the company’s pandemic recovery.
Baker Hughes stock jumped after the global leader in energy technology posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue due to increased oil and gas prices.
After recent advances, Chicago soybean futures declined more than 1% on Thursday, owing to improving weather in Latin America, but underlying demand for U.S. supplies was considered as solid, resulting in weekly gains.
According to figures provided on Thursday by the National Confectioners Association (NCA), North American cocoa grindings unexpectedly decreased in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 116,613 tonnes, down 1.2% from the same time a year earlier.