Stocks fell on Thursday as market participants digested the latest interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve and the latest developments in the ongoing banking sector crisis.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
In the spotlight Thursday, shares of PacWest
Wall Street is also still digesting the central bank's latest interest rate hike, with policymakers issuing their 10th rate increase in this cycle to bring the fed funds rate to a range of 5% to 5.25% -- it's highest in 17 years. Investors were encouraged by policymakers softening language on future rate hikes in their post meeting statement, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks that it is too soon to begin forecasting rate cuts.
"We on the committee have a view that inflation is going to come down not so quickly," Powell said in his post-meeting press conference on Wednesday. "It will take some time, and in that world, if that forecast is broadly right, it would not be appropriate to cut rates and we won't cut rates."
Still many analysts are expecting the Fed to pause its rate-hiking campaign in its June policy-setting meeting, as recent turmoil in the banking sector and signs of cooling inflation continue to impact broader economic growth in similar ways to increasing interest rates.
Elsewhere in the banking sector, shares of First Horizon Bank
"Given the precipitous drop in regional bank valuations since TD made its announcement to purchase First Horizon, the fact that it is not preceding at the original valuation is a positive," Barclays analyst John Aiken said in note to investors, quoted by Bloomberg. "However, we are surprised that the parties could not come to an agreed upon lower price and believe that there could be broader repercussions from walking away from the deal."
In economic news, initial jobless claims totaled a higher-than-expected 242,000 for the week ended April 29, increasing 12,000 week-over-week in another sign that the labor market is cooling. Investors are looking ahead to April's "official" jobs report due out Friday morning for a clearer view on the health of the overall U.S. labor market.
In single-stock moves, shares of Paramount Global
Shopify
Looking ahead, traders will assess the latest earnings from Apple