Feb. 8 (UPI) — The Dow Jones industrial average continued to decline Thursday, falling by more than 1,000 points for the second time this week.
Following relatively little change on Wednesday, the index once again experienced a drop Thursday, closing at 23,860, a decrease of 1,032 or about 4 percent.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes also experienced continuing decline, each dropping 3 percent.
“This is not the end of the world, but it is uncomfortable,” PNC Investments CEO Rich Guerrini told CNN Money.
Thursday’s decline followed the largest drop in the Dow’s history on Monday when it fell 1,175 points or 4.6 percent. The historic drop also erased the index’s gains for the year.
“A big down day like Monday doesn’t just go away. We’re going to continue to see volatile days,” TD Ameritrade chief market strategist JJ Kinahan said. “It can take two to three weeks to work through the system.”
The 10-year Treasury bond also reached a four-year high of 2.88 percent on Thursday, bringing about concerns of rising inflation.
Experts believe the volatility in the stock market has been brought about by investors turning their attention to bonds in the midst of the inflation scare.
“If I have to choose bonds or equities, with interest rates going up, bonds just got more attractive,” Alexandra Coupe, associate director investment manager PAAMCO, told The Washington Post.
Some believe the market declines are a positive as constant economic gains could push the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates currently resting at 1.7 percent.
The White House, which touted a strong stock market after the Dow climbed above 26,000 for the first time in January, has maintained the “fundamentals” of the economy remain strong despite the volatility.
