Dow plummets more than 1,100 points as investors digest the Fed's double-sized rate hike

Matthew Fox
Updated ·3 min read
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 18, 2022 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

  • US stocks fell on Thursday, with the Dow Jones plunging more than 1,100 points as it erased all of yesterday's gain.

  • Investors are digesting the Fed's decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points, while it said a 75-basis-point rate hike is not under consideration.

  • E-commerce companies plunged on Thursday after poor earnings results and guidance from names like Shopify and Etsy.

US stocks plunged on Thursday, with the Dow Jones falling more than 1,100 points and erasing all of its late afternoon rally from yesterday.

Investors continue to digest Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments after Wednesday's FOMC meeting, which helped spark a near-1,000 point rally in the Dow Jones that was its best day since 2020. The Fed raised interest rates by 50 basis points, as was expected, but Powell said during his question-and-answer session that a 75-basis-point rate hike is currently not under consideration by the Fed.

Meanwhile, first-quarter corporate earnings continue to roll in, and most are beating analyst estimates. Of the 351 companies on the S&P 500 that have already reported earnings, 78% of them topped profit estimates by a median of 8%. On the revenue front, 70% of companies have beaten estimates by a median of 5%, according to data from Fundstrat.

Here's where US indexes stood at 12:01 p.m. ET on Thursday:

E-commerce companies plummeted on Thursday after companies like Shopify, Etsy, and Wayfair announced disappointing first-quarter results and guidance. Shares of the three e-commerce companies plunged as much as 18% on Thursday.

Weekly jobless claims rose last week to 200,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected jobless claims to hit 180,000 last week. The four-week moving average was 188,000.

The Bank of England raised interest rates by 25 basis points for the fourth consecutive meeting on Thursday, even as it predicted a rapid slowdown in economic growth. The latest hike lifted rates to 1%, the highest level since 2009.

Twitter stock was higher Thursday after Elon Musk disclosed $7 billion in new funding commitments for his $44 billion takeover of the social-media platform. In a regulatory filing, Musk said he recieved letters from 19 investors. Top commitments include $1 billion from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, $850 million from Sequoia Capital, $500 million from Binance and $400 million from Andreessen Horowitz.

Oil prices surged after OPEC+ maintained its gradual pace of output increases. West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped as much as much as 3.08% to $111.13 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose as much as 3.28% to $113.75.

Bitcoin fell 0.87% to $39,395. Ether prices fell 0.66% to $2,922.

Gold jumped as much as 1.93% to $1,904.80 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added five basis points to 3.01%.

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