New York (US), March 22: U.S. stocks declined on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed tough action on inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 201.94 points, or 0.58 percent, to 34,552.99. The S&P 500 fell 1.94 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,461.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 55.38 points, or 0.40 percent, to 13,838.46.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with consumer discretionary down 0.76 percent, leading the laggards. Energy jumped 3.79 percent, the best-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded lower with all the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
Powell said at the National Association for Business Economics on Monday that inflation is "much too high," adding the Fed "will take the necessary steps to ensure a return to price stability."
"If we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so," said the Fed chief. "And if we determine that we need to tighten beyond common measures of neutral and into a more restrictive stance, we will do that as well."
Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2018 as it seeks to tame the highest U.S. inflation in four decades.
For the trading week ending Friday, the Dow and the S&P 500 gained 5.5 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 8.2 percent.
Source: Xinhua
