What goes up, must come down. Politicians who take credit for a growing Wall Street quickly learn they also get blamed when things go south.
Stocks sank today as a steep decline in tech shares and worries of rapidly rising rates sent Wall Street through its worst day in months.
The Dow closed 831 points lower as Intel and Microsoft fell more than 3.5 percent each. The Nasdaq plummeted more than 4 percent.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.3 percent, with the tech sector underperforming. The broad index also posted a five-day losing streak — its longest since November 2016 — and fell below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, widely followed technical levels.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 posted their biggest one-day drops since early February, while the Nasdaq notched its largest single day sell-off since June 24, 2016.
Stocks have fallen sharply this month. For October, the S&P 500 and the Dow are down more than 4.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq has lost more than 7.5 percent.
Rising rate fears and a pivot out of technology stocks have made it a rough last few days. The Dow has dropped in four of the past five sessions, losing nearly 900 points over that span.
For the overall tech sector in the S&P 500, it was the worst day in seven years.
“People are getting out of the high-flying tech names right now,” said Larry Benedict, CEO of The Opportunistic Trader. “I think people are under-hedged; there could be more pain ahead.”
Worries about a sharp rise in interest rates also pressured equities.