Reuters :
Major global stock indexes fell on Thursday under pressure from crucial US inflation data, falling technology shares and rising benchmark bond yields.
US consumer prices rose solidly in January, leading to the biggest annual increase in inflation in 40 years, which could fuel financial market speculation for a 50 basis points interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month. Wall Street retreated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.47 per cent to end at 35,241.59 points, while the S&P 500 lost 1.81 per cent to 4,504.06. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1 per cent to 14,185.64. It was the seventh time in 2022 that the Nasdaq lost more than 2 per cent in a session.
The S&P 500 is now down about 5 per cent in 2022, and the Nasdaq is down about 9 per cent.
Tech stocks, which boosted US shares to steep gains earlier in the week, fell 2.75 per cent. The MSCI world equity index fell after clinging to gains throughout much of the session. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.2 per cent as rising bond yields.
