London, Thursday, 30 June 2022
US Markets Summary
US equities declined on Thursday as worries about rising inflation and the possibility of a recession weighed heavily on risk assets. The major averages recorded significant decreases for the months of June, the second quarter, and the first half of 2022.
The S&P 500 saw its worst start to a year since 1970 on Thursday, losing 0.9 percent to close at 3,785.38, a 20.6 percent decline for the first half of 2022.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Thursday's trading session at 30,775.43, losing 15.3 percent year to date for its lowest first half since 1962.
Additionally, the Nasdaq's decline of 29.5 percent so far in 2022 has been the worst first half ever.
Stocks continued to trade lower on Thursday as a result of fresh data showing weaker-than-expected real consumer expenditure and still-high inflation rates.
Real personal spending increased 0.7 percent in April but decreased a larger-than-expected 0.4 percent in May, showing that consumers were cutting back as prices increased gradually.
Additionally, even while core personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's favoured inflation indicator, slowed down little more than anticipated in May, the indicator still stood at levels that were close to multi-decade highs.
According to data from Bloomberg, this increased by 4.7 percent over the previous year instead of the predicted 4.8 percent growth.
Additionally, headline inflation—which takes into account increases in the price of energy and food—rose at a slightly slower-than-anticipated 6.3 percent annual rate, keeping pace with April.
(Source: Yahoo!Finance // Edited by: The Decision Maker – Finance editors)