Stocks fell Wednesday following the Federal Open Market Committee's January monetary policy decision amid worse-than-expected quarterly earnings. Market participants also became concerned about speculative retail trading leading rallies in heavily shorted stocks. The Dow lost over 600 points, while the S&P 500 lost all of its 2021 gains as investors became weary of a possible coming market correction.
In its January policy statement, the Federal Reserve highlighted on the recent slowdown in economic recovery into the new year. The central bank decided to keep benchmarks interest rates unchanged at their current near-zero level in effort to continue to support the economy. The Fed also recommitted to leaving rates untouched until labor market conditions and inflation trends fall in-line with its targets. The Fed will also maintain its asset purchasing program, allowing for at least $120 billion in buying per month.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Stocks, heavily shorted stocks like GameStop
For Sector Performance, every sector on the S&P 500 fell below 1% on Wednesday, with Materials
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
For Thursday, market participants will turn their attention to fresh unemployment data and fourth quarter GDP as well as quarterly earnings from companies like Visa