Shares fall after three weeks of sales
U.S. stocks edged lower on Tuesday as traders returned to Wall Street for a holiday-shortened week after Labor Day.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by the same margin, or around 230 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led losses, falling more than 1%. The moves come after three straight weeks of losses for the major averages.
“The market will enter the first full week of September snapping a three-week losing streak as investors continued to digest the Fed’s ‘we don’t want to be sidetracked’ anti-inflation message,”[ads1]; Chris Larkin, managing director of trading at Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE said in a note Tuesday.
“Bulls hoping for a rebound will do so during a shortened Labor Day week that has historically paralleled September and its record of underperformance: Losses have been slightly rarer over the past three decades, but volatility has been higher.”
Treasuries ticked higher as investors await the Federal Reserve’s next policy move later this month. The benchmark 10-year note rose to 3.269%, while the 2-year government bond rose to a yield of 3.449%.
Oil prices eased after a temporary rebound following the first supply cuts by OPEC+ in more than a year, as the group works to manage global crude markets. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $86.44 a barrel while Brent futures ticked down 0.2% to $92.81.
In cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) again fell below the $20,000 level.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY ) plunged 18% at the start of the session Tuesday morning. Last week, the home goods retailer announced in a strategic update that it would lay off staff and close around 150 stores as part of a turnaround for the struggling business.
Reports emerged this weekend that the company’s CFO Gustavo Arnal died by suicide Friday afternoon after falling from a skyscraper in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood known as the “Jenga” tower. Before his death, Arnal was named in a $1.2 billion shareholder lawsuit alleging involvement in a “pump and dump” scheme.
“The company is in the early stages of evaluating the complaint, but based on current knowledge, the company believes the allegations are without merit,” a spokesperson for Bed Bath & Beyond told Yahoo Finance.
Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) shares fell more than 17% after the special buyout company set to merge with former President Donald Trump’s social media platform failed to garner enough shareholder support to extend a deadline to complete the deal.
Tuesday’s move comes after the Ministry of Labor released its latest monthly jobs report for August on Friday. The U.S. economy last added 315,000 jobs as the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, according to government data.
“The modest slowdown in employment growth in August may be welcome by the Fed, but it will not prevent further significant rate hikes in the months ahead,” Nancy Vanden Houten and Kathy Bostjancic of Oxford Economics said in a note on Friday. “Fed Chairman Powell made it clear last week that the FOMC plans to push interest rates well into restrictive territory to bring down inflation and prevent a loosening of inflation expectations.”
Bank of America strategists led by Michael Hartnett warned on Friday of a “rapid inflation shock” and “slow recession shock”, with investors expecting continued monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve.
—
Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
Click here for the latest trending stock indices of the Yahoo Finance platform
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Download the Yahoo Finance app for apple or Android
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flip board, LinkedInand YouTube