NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) Wall Street stocks fell for a third day in a row on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell played down expectations for US economic recovery by saying he did not expect the country to achieve maximum employment anytime this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest gauge of the New York Stock Exchange, fell 1.1 percent to settle at 30,924. Since its last positive close on Monday, the Dow has lost nearly 2 percent.
The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks, closed down 1.3 percent at 3,771, losing nearly 3.5 percent over the last three sessions.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, which includes stocks of tech giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, settled down 2.1 percent, at 12,723. Nasdaq has led losses on Wall Street lately on concerns that some of the stocks on the index were overvalued. With Thursday's drop, the tech-laden index has lost 6.4 percent over the past three sessions.
Thursday's slump on Wall Street came after Powell said he expected to see improvements in employment over the next few months, though that itself will not be enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, currently at near zero. Powell's remarks also sent the US bond yields and the Dollar, both contrarian trades to stocks, rallying.
