© Reuters
Leek Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended the last session of February lower on Tuesday and each of the three major indexes accumulated losses for the month, as investors continue to weigh the possibility that interest rates will remain high for longer. a long period of time.
After strong performance in January, stocks retreated in February after economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials led market participants to reconsider the chances of the US central bank raising the base rate to a level higher than market forecasts and keep it elevated for longer than initially expected.
The fell 0.71% to 32,656.7 points. The lost 0.30% to 3970.15 points. The technology index retreated 0.1% to 11,455.54 points.
For the month, the S&P 500 was down 2.61%, the Dow Jones was down 4.19% and the Nasdaq was down 1.11%.
Investors began gauging the chances of a larger 0.50 percentage point rise in borrowing costs in March, although the odds remain low at around 23%, according to Fed rate futures, which suggest a spike for the basic rate of 5.4% in September, above the current level of 4.57%.
BofA (NYSE:) Global Research has warned that the Fed could go as far as raising the benchmark interest rate to nearly 6%.