US benchmark equity indexes experienced a decline during intraday trading as market participants assessed comments from Federal Reserve officials and the latest economic indicators. The Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.5% to 18,624.5, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5% to 5,861.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a loss of 0.8%, landing at 43,418.7.
Technology sectors were particularly hard-hit, while utilities managed to see some gains. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee remarked that policymakers are well on their way to achieving their economic targets, allowing a continuation of the looser monetary policy. "The conditions on the dual mandate side are looking pretty balanced," Goolsbee mentioned.
"So we should be contemplating, over the next year or year and a half, that rates need to lessen." Boston Fed President Susan Collins stated that a decrease in interest rates is "certainly on the table" for next month, though she emphasized that it is not yet a definitive outcome. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that the US economy is not providing any indications necessitating a swift easing of monetary policy. Recent probabilities from the CME FedWatch tool indicated that the chances of the Federal Open Market Committee cutting interest rates by 25 basis points next month dropped to 62% from Thursday's 72%, while the likelihood of maintaining current rates increased to 38%. In bond markets, the two-year yield fell 1.4 basis points to settle at 4.28%, while the 10-year rate remained relatively stable at 4.42%. On the economic front, US retail sales in October exceeded expectations, largely driven by rising auto purchases.
Additionally, previous figures for September were upwardly revised. Conversely, US industrial production suffered a decline for the second consecutive month in October, partly due to a resolved strike at Boeing ($BA) and the repercussions of two hurricanes. However, a recovery in industrial production is anticipated, fueled by the resolution of the Boeing strike and diminishing hurricane impacts, though a quick rebound in motor vehicle and parts output is unlikely, according to Oxford Economics. The New York Fed reported that November saw a resurgence in manufacturing activity, reaching its highest point in almost three years, with both orders and shipments bouncing back into positive figures. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil dipped 2.3% to $67.10 a barrel during intraday activity, with prices trending toward a weekly decline amid concerns of decreasing demand in China, as highlighted by D.A.
Davidson in a recent note to clients. In corporate performance, Applied Materials ($AMAT) saw its stock fall by 8.9%, becoming the weakest performer on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Despite this, the semiconductor equipment supplier reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter that surpassed expectations, underscored by increased adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. Conversely, Palantir Technologies ($PLTR) witnessed an intraday surge of 8.6%, making it the top performer on the S&P 500.
The company announced plans to transfer its class A common shares from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, effective November 26. In precious metals, gold declined 0.2% to $2,568.60 per troy ounce, while silver decreased by 0.5% to $30.41 per ounce..