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US stocks continued their decline on Thursday, October 20, dragged down by hawkish remarks from the policymakers, which have offset the market participants' optimism over the solid earnings from the companies.
The S&P 500 fell 0.80 per cent to 3,665.78. The Dow Jones was down 0.30 per cent to 30,333.59. The NASDAQ Composite lost 0.61 per cent to 10,614.84, and the small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1.24 per cent to 1,704.39.
The stocks went up earlier in the session after positive earnings from the companies lifted the investors' spirits. However, comments from the officials have renewed fears over more jumbo hikes in the coming days and a potential recession.
President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker said that the Federal Reserve has still room to increase the policy rates to curb inflation, which remained stubbornly high despite the central bank's restrictive measures.
In economic news, the number of Americans filing for fresh claims of unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to 214,000 in the prior week, reports from the US Department of Labor showed. The decline indicated that the labor market still remained tight despite a cooling demand due to the jump in policy rates.
Nine of the 11 segments of the S&P 500 index stayed in the negative territory, with only communication services and energy sectors advancing on Thursday. The utilities and industrial sectors were the laggards.
In corporate earnings, shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) added over four per cent, after the multinational technology firm announced its latest quarter earnings while saying that it expects to exceed its prior annual revenue guidance.
AT&T (NYSE:T) rose more than seven per cent in the intraday trading on October 20, after the leading telecommunications firm reported strong quarterly earnings results for the latest quarter. However, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell over six per cent, after the EV maker trimmed its annual growth guidance.
In the communication services sector, Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) increased by 1.16 per cent, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI) rose by 1.52 per cent, and Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) surged by 1.07 per cent. Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) advanced 1.18 per cent and 2.46 per cent, respectively.
In utilities stocks, NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) decreased by 4.10 per cent, The Southern Company (SO) fell 1.85 per cent, and Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) plunged by 2.32 per cent. Dominion Energy, Inc. (D) and Sempra (SRE) plummeted 1.96 per cent and 2.82 per cent, respectively.
Futures & Commodities
Gold futures were down 0.14 per cent to US$1,631.95 per ounce. Silver increased by 1.32 per cent to US$18.602 per ounce, while copper rose 2.25 per cent to US$3.3928.
Brent oil futures increased by 0.16 per cent to US$92.56 per barrel and WTI crude was up 0.41 per cent to US$84.87.
Bond Market
The 30-year Treasury bond yields were up 2.55 per cent to 4.232, while the 10-year bond yields rose 2.66 per cent to 4.239.
US Dollar Futures Index decreased by 0.10 per cent to US$112.770.
