(Reuters) – Wall Street stocks tumbled in a broad sell-off on Tuesday as the upward trajectory of U.S. Treasury yields and deepening inflation concerns dampened risk appetite and sent investors fleeing the equities market.
Below are some notable facts about the bout of volatility hitting U.S. equities.
* With investors increasingly worried about inflation and after the U.S. Federal Reserve last week revealed its latest clues on tapering its asset purchases and hiking interest rates, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed as high as 1.567%, reaching a level last seen in mid-June.
* As of Tuesday afternoon, half of S&P 500 stocks were down 10% or more, the definition of a correction, from their 52-week highs. That included over 60 stocks that had fallen 20% or more.
* With two sessions left in the month, the S&P 500 has lost 3.6% in September, making it the index’s weakest month since September 2020, when the S&P 500 lost 3.9%
* The Nasdaq is now down 5.1% from its record high close on Sept. 7. That marks the Nasdaq’s deepest decline from a record high close since May
* With growth stocks particularly exposed to rising interest rates, the S&P 500 technology index was Tuesday’s worst-performing sector, down 2.5%, reducing its year-to-date gain to 16%, in line with the broader S&P 500
* Even with recent turbulence, volatility has calmed considerably on Wall Street this year, with the S&P 500 logging just 37 sessions with gains or losses of 1% or more. That compares to 109 such sessions in 2020, when the S&P 500 tumbled and recovered, marking its shortest bear market ever.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
