A late slump left stocks decisively lower on Wall Street Thursday, wrapping up the worst quarter for the market since the pandemic broke out two years ago, per the AP. Despite posting a gain in March, a dismal January and February left US indexes lower for the year to date. The S&P 500 ended the day 1.5% lower, bringing its loss since the beginning of the year to 4.9%. The index fell 72 points to 4,530, while the Dow fell 550 points to 34,678, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 221 points to 14,220. The latter two drops also were 1.5%.
Benchmark US crude oil sank 7% after President Biden ordered the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve. Treasury yields fell. Technology and communications stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Many of the companies in those sectors have pricey stock values that tend to give the broader market a more forceful push either up or down. Chipmaker Intel fell 2.9%, and Charter Communications slid 3.9%.
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