© Reuters.
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened sharply lower, led again by losses in technology stocks, as fear of a potential end to the Federal Reserve’s policy of easy money prompted profit-taking in some of the country’s most expensively-valued stocks.
By 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT), the , which more than doubled from its post-pandemic low before the recent sell-off started, was down 395 points, or 2.9%, adding to losses of some 2.5% on Monday. The was down 1.1%, while the , home to a greater concentration of mature ‘value’ stocks that command less demanding valuations, was down only 0.5%, or 154 points, at 31,368 points.
The moves came as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell prepared to start two days of testimony in Congress about the state of the economy. Fears that the combination of loose fiscal and loose monetary policy could stoke inflation have driven up 10- and 30-year bond yields to their highest in over a year ahead of the testimony, ensuring that Powell’s every word will be scrutinized even more closely than usual.
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