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Fed delivers 4th straight 0.75% rate hike with no indication of slowing – Stocks fall after jobless claims – Latest moves on key stocks – Biden admin announces investments in meat and poultry
At Wednesday’s session of the central bank, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced the fourth straight interest rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, continuing the Fed’s aggressive campaign to bring down inflation, CNN reported.
Powell’s comments were not good news for investors who were concerned about where interest rates might peak and how long they may stay that way.
“The question of when to moderate the pace of increases is now much less important than the question of how high to raise rates and how long to keep monetary policy restrictive,” Powell said, adding that the Fed “may move to higher levels than we thought.”
Wall Street tumbled on Wednesday following the news, with the Dow dropping 1.6% and the S&P 500 sinking 2.5%.
While the pivotal jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for October will be released on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on Thursday anyway. The drop was based on expected numbers, the ADP jobs report released on Tuesday, and other key economic data, Investor’s Business Daily reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% at the opening bell, with the S&P 500 moving down 1.3%, and the NASDAQ selling off 1.4% in morning action.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.19% on Thursday, with the 2-year yield above 4.7 percent, while the US dollar index also moved higher.
Stocks rising on Thursday: Etsy climbed 8%.
Stocks down on Thursday: ROKU plunged nearly 16%, Tesla down 1%, Apple and Microsoft moved lower, Qualcomm fell 8%.
Stocks to watch and buy: Dollar General, Chevron, UnitedHealth.
The Biden administration and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an investment of $73 million in 21 grant projects through the first round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP), the USDA announced in a press release on Wednesday. The historic investments are aimed at increasing competition and expanding meat and poultry processing capacity. The release said the expanded capacity “increases competition, supports producer income, and strengthens the food supply chain to lower costs for working families and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.
The administration is also investing $75 million for eight projects through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program.
