Wall Street stocks tumbled early Thursday on disappointing US retail sales
as the ECB and other central banks followed the Federal Reserve in hiking
interest rates again.
اضافة اعلان
US retail sales slumped 0.6 percent in November from October to $689.4
billion, a bigger drop than expected as persistently high inflation pressures
shoppers during the key festive season.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England were among the
central banks lifting interest rates, with both increasing by 50 basis points.
"Inflation remains far too high and is projected to stay above the
target for too long," the ECB governing council said in a statement ahead
of the press conference.
"Interest rates will still have to rise significantly at a steady
pace," they said.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3
percent at 33,521.66.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent to 3,937.43, while the
tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.7 percent to 10,985.91.
Investors were still digesting the Fed's decision Wednesday to enact a
half-percentage point interest rate increase as Fed Chair Jerome Powell
signaled more action would be needed in 2023 to reduce pricing pressures.
December is normally a strong month for investors, but so far it "has
not lived up yet to its advanced billing that it is a typically good month for
the stock market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, who said
major indices have been down 1.8 to 3.5 percent.
"In other word on this December morn: 'Bah humbug!'"
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