Dow falls more than 460 points; continues second quarter’s weak start
Krystal Hur, CNN | 4/2/2024, 11:40 a.m.
Stocks fell Tuesday morning as investors continued to worry that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates later than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 467 points, or 1.2%, on Tuesday after declining more than 500 points at its lows. That means the blue-chip index had at one point sunk roughly 800 points during the first two days of the second quarter. On Tuesday morning, the S&P 500 fell 1% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.4%.
The market’s declines come after the S&P 500 notched its best first quarter since 2019. The S&P 500 index rose 10.2% during the first three months of the year, while the Dow and Nasdaq gained 5.6% and 9.1%, respectively.
Behind the selloff was the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which rose 2.5% for the 12 months that ended in February, a faster clip than January’s price increase.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday warned that rate cuts won’t be imminent.
“We don’t need to be in a hurry to cut,” he said at an event hosted by the San Francisco Fed.
That send bond yields rising. The 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest level of the year on Tuesday and was last trading at 4.36%.
Traders pulled back their expectations for a rate cut in June to about 62% from more than 70% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Investors are looking to the March jobs report due Friday morning. Economists polled by FactSet expect a seasonally adjusted total of 202,500 jobs added in March, down from a 275,000 increase in February.
Elsewhere, health insurers are taking a hit after the Biden administration on Monday released the final payment rates for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D drug coverage for 2025. Federal payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to increase on average by 3.7%, or more than $16 billion, since the total payment depends on a number of factors.
Humana shares slid 14.7%, CVS Health shares declined 9.1% and UnitedHealth Group shares lost 7.6%.
Tesla shares slipped 5.3% on Tuesday, after the electric vehicle maker posted its first annual drop in sales since 2020 as it continued to battle with rising competition.