Stocks fell for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday as market participants reacted to the Federal Reserve's latest 75 basis point rate hike and signals from central bankers that the pace of rate hikes will not slow any time soon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 150 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite fell 1% and 1.7%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -1.06% or -39.80 points to 3,719.89
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.46% or -146.51 points to 32,001.25
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -1.73% or -181.86 points to 10,342.94
On Wednesday, investors had anticipated that the Fed would issue another 0.75 percentage point rate increase, but did not expect Chair Jerome Powell to say it was "premature" to discuss a rate hike pause at this time in afternoon remarks.
"The market initially viewed the November Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement as dovish, but a hawkish press conference caused almost a full reversal of these moves due to comments that the 'ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected' and it is 'premature to think about pausing rate hikes,'" Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) economist Michael Gapen said in a note.
November's FOMC decision now brings the Fed's benchmark policy rate to a new range of 3.75% to 4%, marking its highest level since 2008.
Following the rate hike, investors will now focus on the highly-anticipated October jobs report due out Friday. Market participants will look for signs that the labor market is cooling, especially as Powell noted on Wednesday that "the labor market continues to be out of balance, with demand substantially exceeding the supply of available workers". The Labor Department is expected to show a private payroll gain of 190,000 last month, according to Bloomberg.
For earnings, Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) shares rose Thursday despite the fitness company posting a larger-than-expected loss and offered a disappointing outlook for the holiday season.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) sunk 8% after the chipmake issued a forecast that disappointed analysts, echoing concerns from other semiconductor companies over macroeconomic headwinds and pandemic-related lockdowns in China.
Elsewhere, Elon Musk is reportedly going to cut about half of Twitter's (NYSE: TWTR) workforce in the wake of his $44 billion acquisition of the social media giant, Bloomberg reports.
Other companies like Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) and Stripe announced job cuts on Thursday. Lyft said it will cut 13% of its workforce across all teams, citing a potential recession and rising rideshare costs. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison told employees in a memo Thursday that it is laying off 14% of its employees, citing rising inflation and elevated interest rates putting pressure on the fintech.