Dow Craters 369 As Slowdown Reality Sets In
Source: USA Today
Matt Krantz, Adam Shell and Ed Brackett, USA TODAY 5:06 p.m. EST December 18, 2015
U.S. stocks cratered in their worst day in months as investors are starting to realize global growth is likely to slow down.
The market's change-of-heart became clear Friday when the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 367 points, or 2.1%, to 17,128.45 and the Standard & Poor's 500 slid 36 points, or 1.8%, to 2005.52. Falling a little less harder was the Nasdaq composite losing 79 points, or 1.6%, to 4923.08. It was the Dow's worst one-day percentage drop since falling 2.8% on Sept. 1, 2015.
Investors' initial celebration over the Federal Reserve hike in short-term interest rates Wednesday turned into a sinking realization of what the move could mean for macroeconomic growth. The market initially rallied 224 points Wednesday on relief from the Fed finally having enough faith in the economy to push short-term rates up from nearly 0%. But then reality set in. The Dow lost 620 points Thursday and Friday.
The market's about-face shows investors' initial relief in the Fed's decision to take interest rates higher is being replaced with concern of how that will affect companies and consumers. The market is now down 2.3% since the Fed made its move, where short-term interest rates were taken up for the first time in nearly a decade.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2015/12/18/stocks-friday/77546286/
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