Dow Jones stock index hit by record falls

IANS  |  New York 

The moved to reassure markets after the index dropped by 1,175 points.

The leading US index on Monday closed down 4.6 per cent at 24,345.75, reported.

The said: "The President's focus is on our long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong."

The fall surpasses a previous record 777.68 points drop on the Dow Jones during the financial crisis in 2008.

That came after rebuffed a $700 billion bailout plan following the collapse of investment

Monday's decline is the largest fall in percentage terms for the Dow since August 2011, when markets dropped in the aftermath of "Black Monday" when downgraded its credit rating of the US.

US investors are reacting to changes in the outlook for the American and global economy, and what that might mean for the cost of borrowing.

The sell-off accelerated on Friday when the released employment numbers which showed stronger growth in wages than was anticipated.

If salaries rise, the expectation is that people will spend more and push inflation higher.

To keep that under control, America's central will need to raise interest rates, which has spooked investors who were expecting the US Federal Reserve to increase rates only two or three times this year.

They now predict there may be a few more interest rate rises on the horizon.

The decline in the Dow was closely followed by the wider stock index, down 4.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq, down 3.7%.

Monday's sell-off was driven by firms moving to sell stocks to put more money into assets such as bonds which benefit from higher rates, says Erin Gibbs, for

"This isn't a collapse of the This isn't a concern that markets aren't going to do well, or that corporate isn't going to do well," she said.

"This is concern that the is actually doing much better than expected and so we need to re-evaluate."

Stronger global growth has prompted central banks in Europe, and elsewhere to ease away from policies put in place to stimulate the after the financial crisis.

On Monday, was sworn in as the new of the US Federal Reserve.

The market declines, which spread globally, underscored the challenges he and other bankers face - to make decisions that sustain the growth of the without alarming investors.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, February 06 2018. 07:30 IST