🚨 Powell’s Hawkish Pivot Sparks Market Chaos
The U.S. stock market took a
sharp nosedive Wednesday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious outlook sent shockwaves through investors.
- 💬 Jim Cramer Sounds Off: Calling the selloff "incredible panic," Cramer noted, “People are tossing out both winners and losers — classic index fund behavior." Small-cap stocks took the worst hit, erasing all their post-election gains.
- 🔻 Broad Selloff: The Dow dropped 2.48% to 42,326 — its worst single-day fall since September 2022. The S&P 500 shed 2.9% to 5,872, while the Nasdaq plunged 3.6%, closing at 19,383.
📉 Small Caps Slammed
The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks plunged
4.4% to 2,231, wiping out months of gains. As Powell hinted at only
two rate cuts in 2025, down from four projected earlier, investor confidence in growth-heavy sectors waned.
💥 The Tech Wipeout
The “Magnificent Seven” tech giants lost a staggering
$600 billion in value in a single day. Leading the carnage was Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), tumbling
8.2%, followed by sharp losses in other tech favorites.
🌡️ Volatility on the Rise
The CBOE Volatility Index (
VIX) surged
58%, reflecting the heightened anxiety. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar hit a two-year high, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) slid
5.32% to $101,333, and gold dipped
2.1% to $2,580 per ounce.
🌍 Why It Matters
Powell declared the Fed’s monetary policy has entered a "new phase," with inflation projected to hit
2.5% in 2025 — a jump from the earlier forecast of 2.1%. The market is bracing for a slower path to rate cuts and a more cautious economic environment.
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Investor Takeaway: While panic rules the day, remember: volatility can open doors for the patient and strategic investor. Stay tuned for more updates from Stockburger 🚀
