U.S. Stocks Close Notably Lower As Traders Await Tech Earnings, Fed Policy

After a weak start, U.S. stocks kept falling right till the end of the day’s session on Monday, as traders chose to lighten commitments ahead of a slew of earnings from tech firms, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.

The major averages all ended notably lower, with the tech-laden Nasdaq recording a sharp loss.

The Dow ended down 260.99 points or 0.77 percent at 33,717.09, the S&P 500 settled lower by 52.79 points or 1.3 percent at 4,017.77, while the Nasdaq closed with a loss of 227.90 points or 1.96 percent at 11,393.81.

The Fed’s two-day meeting gets underway on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are also scheduled to announce their rate decisions this week. It is expected that both BoE and ECB will hike interest rates by 50 basis points.

Apple, Amazon and Alphabet lost 2 percent, 1.6 percent, and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Meta Platforms drifted down about 3 percent. Microsoft, Chevron, 3M, Walt Disney, United Health and Caterpillar also ended notably lower.

Verizon, Goldman Sachs, IBM and Merck closed on a positive note.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended lower on Monday as investors looked ahead to a busy week of central bank announcements and earnings updates from U.S. tech heavyweights Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms.

Chinese shares eked out modest gains as traders returned to their desks after a week-long holiday.

European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday with investors focusing on corporate earnings updates and looking ahead to the upcoming policy meetings of central banks.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.17 percent. Germany’s DAX edged down 0.16 percent and France’s CAC 40 ended lower by 0.21 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.25 percent.

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