Wall Street down as S&P, Nasdaq snap win streaks
US stocks closed lower on Thursday, snapping the longest winning streaks for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 in two years, as Treasury yields climbed after a disappointing auction of 30-year bonds and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell said central bank officials "are not confident" interest rates are high enough to tame inflation, and may not get much more help from improvements in the supply of goods, services and labor. Stocks had moved slightly lower prior to Powell's comments as yields climbed after a weak auction of US$24 billion in 30-year Treasuries. Powell is "taking a hawkish viewpoint again," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "He's reassuring the market that the fight against inflation has not been won a and if economic conditions warrant, they won't hesitate to hike rates again," he said. "If you add up all the remarks, Powell is telling the market not to get too complacent and that’s putting some pressure on stocks." The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.65 percent, to 33,892, the S&P 500 lost 0.81 percent, to 4,347 and the Nasdaq lost 0.94 percent, to 13,521. The declines marked the biggest one-day percentage drops for the S&P and Nasdaq since October 26, and the largest for the Dow since October 27. Walt Disney jumped 6.9 percent on a quarterly profit beat and as Hollywood actors reached a tentative agreement with major studios. Among other stocks, semiconductor firm Arm Holdings dropped 5.2 percent on a downbeat third-quarter sales forecast. (Reuters)