NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks fell early Wednesday, extending the prior session’s losses amid worries over tightening US monetary policy.
Comments on Tuesday from top Federal Reserve official Lael Brainard “triggered a taper tantrum of sorts in Treasuries and sparked a newfound sense of nervousness” ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve minutes, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
The minutes come as Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other top US central bankers vow to take whatever steps are needed to bring inflation into line.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, a proxy for interest rates, surged early Wednesday above 2.6 percent.
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About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 34,381.06, down 0.8 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent to 4,465.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.5 percent to 13,854.60.
Among individual companies, JetBlue sank 8.5 percent after announcing a $3.6 billion bid for Spirit Airlines, threatening a merger between the carrier and Frontier Airlines. Spirit fell 3.5 percent, while Frontier tumbled 8.4 percent.
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