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* Energy and businesses are losing ground
* Sales will fall more than expected in February
* Index: Dow -0.45%, S&P 500 -0.28%, Nasdaq -0.18% (Updates with afternoon trading)
March 16 (Reuters) – Wall Street went down on Tuesday, slowed by energy stocks and threatened to halt a recent rally, while investors awaited the outcome of a two-day policy meeting the Federal Reserve.
The Nasdaq turned negative in afternoon trading after a two-week earlier rally.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industry averages closed at the highest levels in the previous session as hopes of a $ 1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package and continued volatility led strong views that the economy was on track to recover.
However, the stimulus and development of economic data has recently halted inflation concerns, pushing yields up and picking up parity markets in February.
Wall Street’s fear measure hit a five-week low of 19.68 points as yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury benchmark fell for the second straight session to 1.59% from hitting a 13-month high last week.
Fears of an overheated economy and a jump ahead in anticipation of flat rates have further scrutinized the Fed meeting, where policymakers are likely to raise economic forecasts and reaffirm their commitment to stay in the future.
Investors have increased their cash distribution slightly, estimating that inflation and taper tantrums could be at the top of the highest rally in financial markets, a BofA fund manager’s study showed in March Tuesday.
“This Fed meeting will be one of the most important for the market in the near future. This is our first after the recent rise in inflation and concerns about inflation, ”said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta.
Data showed that sales fell more than expected in February due to bad cold weather across the country. Another report pointed out that winter storms in Texas caused a drop in U.S. factory production last month.
At mid-afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.45% at 32,805.03 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.28% to 3,957.79.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18% to 13,435.18.
Energy stocks fell 2.4% after falling oil prices while finances bounced around 1%. Technology and communications services jumped about 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.
Russell’s growth index was slightly higher compared to Russell’s index value fall of 0.7%, in a slight reversal from a recent move away from technology and other high-growth stocks.
Ford Motor Co. fell more than 4% after announcing a $ 2 billion adjustable debt contract.
Cases that are declining higher than those of the NYSE with a 1.87-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.65-to-1 ratio favored rejection.
The S&P 500 set up 72 new 52-week highs and no new levels; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 214 new heights and 13 new lights. (Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru Edition with Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)