Stocks sank Wednesday after the Federal Reserve gave a cautious assessment of the global economy and said growth in the U.S. has slowed down.
The statement from the Fed smothered a small rally in stocks earlier in the day. In addition to lowering its view of the U.S. economy, the Fed didn’t say if it will respond to those and other concerns by slowing down its planned increases in interest rates.
Investors sold tech stocks, already under pressure following a shaky outlook from Apple, and consumer stocks such as travel booking sites and cruise lines. They bought conservative, dividend-paying stocks such as telecommunications companies and utility providers.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 222.77 points to 15,944.46. A large chunk of that loss belonged to Apple, which dropped $6.57 to $93.42, and to Boeing, which gave a disappointing 2016 outlook and dropped $11.43 to $116.58, its biggest one-day loss in 14 years.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index sank 20.68 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,882.95. The slump in tech stocks hammered the Nasdaq composite index, which lost 99.51 points, or 2.2 percent, to 4,468.17.
The price of crude rose as investors hoped for cuts in production. The head of Russia’s state oil pipeline monopoly Wednesday said talks with OPEC and Saudi Arabia are in the works. Oil prices have plunged over the last 18 months because global supply is outstripping demand, creating a gigantic fuel glut.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 85 cents
to close at $32.30 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, rose $1.30 to $31.10 a barrel in London. Oil prices also increased about 4 percent Tuesday. Wholesale gasoline slipped to $1.0457 a gallon. Heating oil rose 5.8 cents to $1.025 a gallon. Natural gas added 0.9 cents to $2.189 per 1,000 cubic feet.
