- US stocks closed lower Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than 300 points.
- Investors remain fixated on the central bank ahead of the next rate hike announcement on Wednesday.
US stocks finished lower Tuesday as investors anxiously await interest rate guidance from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
Stocks are under pressure from an anticipated 75-basis-point rate hike from the central bank, which will announce its policy decision Wednesday. The 2-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to Fed moves, surged as high as 3.983% intraday to hit the highest rate since 2007. The 10-year yield climbed as high as to 3.593%, the highest since April 2011.
Investors were further unsettled by a potential escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine that sent stocks in Moscow crashing.
Here's where US indexes stood after the 4:30 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday:
- S&P 500: 3,855.93, down 1.13%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 30,706.23, down 1.01% (313.45 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 11,425.05, down 0.95%
Here's what else to know:
- A Fed rate hike of 100 basis points would spur more turmoil in markets and add to inflation fears, according to Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein
- The Fed should stay hawkish, though, and remain steadfast in its goal of taming inflation if forthcoming CPI prints remain high, crypto bull Mike Novogratz said.
- Meme stocks are still among Robinhood users' favorites, with AMC and GameStop both making the top 10 for the trading platform.
In commodities, bonds and crypto:
- Oil slid further with West Texas Intermediate slipping 1.53% to $84.42. International benchmark Brent crude fell 1.57% to $90.59.
- Gold dipped 0.68% to $1,664.75 an ounce.
- 10-year yield rose 8.4 basis points to 3.573%.
- Bitcoin added 0.73% to $19,043.29.