The Dow fell nearly 600 points, and oil prices in the United States dropped by more than 4%, reaching their lowest level since August 2017. There was a large sell-off coming from investors who were worried about slowing growth and economic expansion. These concerns were exacerbated by doubts that the Fed could make a mistake by continuing to raise interest rates.
On Thursday, the Nasdaq was down 20% from the highs recorded on August 29th. Although it is too early to say that the NASDAQ is officially in a bear market, analysts tend to account for calcuating bull and bear runs using closing numbers.
However, if the Nasdaq falls in a bear market, it would join a growing list of downturns in risky assets. This summer, the trade war pushed the Chinese stock market into a bear market. Fears of an oil oversupply caused the oil markets to fall into a bear market as well, with crude losing 40% of its value in just two months.
Signs of concern begin to emerge in financial markets – The VIX index rose Thursday to its highest level since February, when the Dow fell by 1,000 points in one week.
Investors hoping for US Federal Reserve actions are frustrated by the central bank statement and Jerome Powell’s conference on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve showed its expectations for a rate hike in 2019, but its tone seemed more optimistic than the market indicated. Powell suggested that the Fed would continue to reduce its balance sheet despite the chaos surrounding the markets. Economic concerns were also amplified by the sudden drop in the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, which fell on Thursday to its lowest level since August 2016.
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