Following President Joe Biden's choice of Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve for a second term, equities lost ground while Treasury yields soared. The dollar increased in value.
The S&P 500 fell more than 40 points in the final 45 minutes of trade in the United States. The index had spent the whole session higher before a sell-off in technology stocks drove it down for the day.
The NASDAQ 100 dropped more than 1%, with Peloton and Docusign both falling at least 5.5%.
The swaps market in the United States is now pricing in a full 25 basis point rate hike for the June Fed meeting, with a second increase expected in November. The dollar rose, while gold fell by more than 2% and oil rose.
Biden had been considering between Powell and Brainard who he nominated for the position of vice-chair. The Powell selection comes amid rising concern that the United States' central bank would fall behind the curve in tackling sticky inflation.
Consumer-price rise is accelerating at the strongest rate in decades, and price-growth forecasts are at their greatest since 2013.
