Banks and energy companies led a broad pullback for stocks Tuesday, knocking the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 470 points lower and wiping out the market’s gains from last week.
Banks and energy companies led a broad pullback for stocks Tuesday, knocking the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 470 points lower and wiping out the market’s gains from last week. The S&P 500 lost 0.9%. That, plus its losses Monday, outweigh the benchmark index’s gains last week. The Dow sank 1.4%, its worst day since Feb.26. Treasury yields mostly edged higher. The market’s downturn so far this week reflects growing worries among investors that inflation is rising. Any significant acceleration of inflation would be a drag on the overall market and could crimp the broader economic recovery. The selling comes ahead of a key measure of inflation at the consumer level due to be released by the government Wednesday. Commodity prices have been rising, particularly for industrial metals such as copper and platinum, as well as for energy commodities like gasoline and crude oil. Tech stocks, which get most of their valuation from the future profits those companies are expected to earn, become less valuable if inflation decreases the value of those earnings. Big technology companies were among the biggest decliners for a second straight day.
