- Stocks fell across the board, while treasury yields rose as speculation grew that central banks would have to raise interest rates sooner than previously anticipated.
- The S&P 500 fell in all but one of its 11 industry groups, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell the most in a single day since November. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped more than 2.5%, dragged down by mega-caps like Apple and Meta Platforms. Microsoft took a step back, spending $69 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard, while Goldman Sachs Group's lower-than-expected fourth-quarter trading revenue weighed on banks.
- Higher oil prices helped underpin gains in energy stocks.
- Treasury yields rose along the curve, pushing them to levels last seen before the pandemic roiled markets, and benchmark German yields rose to within one basis point of turning positive for the first time since May 2019. The focus is shifting to the March meeting of the United States Federal Reserve, with markets beginning to price in more than a 25-basis-point increase.
- Oil has risen to its highest level in seven years, highlighting the Fed's inflationary challenges. Meanwhile, a measure of New York state manufacturing fell sharply in January as orders and shipments fell sharply, implying that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus caused a drop in activity.
