March 24 (UPI) — U.S. markets fell broadly on Wednesday amid a widespread sell-off in tech stocks and the second day of testimony from federal economic leaders.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.01%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.55% after having risen as much as 0.8% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day flat, falling 3.09 points.
Tech stocks helped to lead the decline on Wednesday as Facebook stock fell 2.92%, Netflix dropped 2.67% and Apple slid 2%.
GameStop stock plummeted 33.79% after the company ended a post-earnings conference call on Tuesday as it missed fourth quarter earnings estimates.
Airline stocks had rebounded earlier in the day after losses on Tuesday, but ultimately fell flat with United dropping 0.97% and American Airlines falling 0.066%.
“Stocks encountered volatility but powered ahead in the first quarter. Cyclical stocks — those sensitive to economic momentum — continued to lead,” Tony DeSpirito, chief investment officer of U.S. fundamental equities at BlackRock told CNBC. “We think it makes sense to position for the start of a new and powerful economic cycle.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared for a second day of testimony before Congress, where Powell told the Senate banking committee he expects increased growth from the economy in 2021.
“There’s going to be a very, very strong year in the most likely case,” he said. “There are of course risks to the upside and downside, but it should be a very strong year from a growth standpoint … Longer run we do have to raise revenue to support permanent spending that we want to do.”
The 10-year treasury yield fell three basis points on Wednesday to 1.64%.
