icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
1 Jul, 2022 09:28

US stocks off to worst start in over 50 years

The S&P 500 ended first half of 2022 lower by 20.6%
US stocks off to worst start in over 50 years

US stock futures continued to decline Friday morning after the worst start to a year in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.7% in pre-market trading, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are sliding 0.67% and 0.59% respectively.

Stocks extended losses from Thursday's session, with the Dow down 15.3% so far this year – marking its worst first-half performance since 1962. The S&P 500 index ended the first half of 2022 lower by 20.6% for its worst start to a year since 1970. The Nasdaq’s 29.5% drop so far in 2022 marked its worst first half on record.

The steep first-half losses come as investors are grappling with the risks of an economic downturn and tighter monetary policy, as the US Federal Reserve responds to inflation with aggressive interest-rate hikes. The Fed hiked the key interest rate by 0.75 of a percentage point in June, marking the biggest rate increase since 1994.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section

Podcasts
0:00
24:55
0:00
28:50