- Stocks fell around the world as recession fears reappeared, and the Federal Reserve struggled to keep up with inflation, which has proven to be more persistent and pervasive than officials expected.
- The S&P 500 fell to its lowest level since December 2020, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 4%. During a Twitter staff meeting, Musk wasn't directly asked and didn't address the topic of whether he's committed to buying the social-media giant, widening the deal spread his proposed takeover of the company.
- Mortgage rates rose to their highest level since 1987, sending homebuilders into a tailspin.
- The euro sank against the dollar after central banks in Europe tightened monetary policy, promising to close the interest rate gap with the United States.
- Treasuries have recovered from a recent sell-off.
- Bitcoin fell below $21,000 for the first time in newswire statistics dating back to 2010.
- Declaring that taming inflation is critical, Jerome Powell engineered the largest rate hike since 1994 on Wednesday and hinted at the prospect of another hefty jump in July. While the Fed chairman tried to lessen the blow of the 75-basis-point hike by stressing he didn't expect such increases to be common, he implied that an economic slump was a possibility.
- This week, the number of S&P 500 members trading above their 50-day moving average fell below 5%, the lowest level since worries of COVID-19 pummelling stocks more than two years ago. Both that selloff and the one that rocked markets in late 2018 reversed course when a comparable percentage of stocks fell below a well-observed technical average.
