Wall Street ends lower in choppy trading

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell for a third straight session in choppy trading Thursday, one day after the market sold off on a hawkish slant in the Federal Reserve minutes.

The major indexes surrendered their earlier gains after investors got more insight into the central bank’s thinking.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the Fed should let its balance sheet start to shrink soon after the first interest rate hike that could come as soon as March.

Crossmark Global Investments Chief Market Strategist Victoria Fernandez:

“He seemed to add a little bit more fuel to the fire of raising rates sooner rather than later. I think that made the markets turn around the middle of the day.”

The ten-year benchmark Treasury yield rose for a fourth day, hitting its highest level since April. That boosted bank stocks like Citigroup and Wells Fargo.

The Dow ended the day down 170 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended a tenth of a percent lower.

Pressuring those indexes: Shares of Netflix fell for a fifth straight day. JPMorgan lowered the near-term subscriber estimates and cut the price target on the video streaming giant.

Strong demand for COVID-19 shots and tests lifted Walgreens’ quarterly comparable retail sales to their highest level in 20 years. The drug store chain raised its profit growth forecast for the full year, but shares fell almost 3%.

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