Wall Street stocks tumbled Monday amid investor gloom as more experts predict a recession and markets await key economic data and earnings later in the week.
Market watchers pointed to continued worry over the effects of central bank interest rate hike following significant announcements last week from the Federal Reserve and others.
More analysts also predict a drop in corporate earnings in the coming quarters.
The “baseline” forecast from Oxford Economics “now anticipates a global recession starting in Q4 2022 and comprising three straight quarters of negative per capita world GDP growth,” said a note from the advisory firm.
The note cited weakness in consumer confidence and the decline in asset prices as worrying signals. While the labor market remains “relatively robust,” the benchmark is a lagging indicator, Oxford said.
The gloomy outlook has dampened the odds for a “Santa Claus rally” that often takes place near the end of the year when trading volumes are scant, news flow is limited and investors are feeling festive.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5 percent at 32,757.54.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 3,817.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.5 percent to 10,546.03.
Large tech shares were generally lower, including Amazon, which fell 3.4 percent and Facebook parent Meta, which sank 4.1 percent.
Aerojet Rocketdyne rose 1.4 percent after agreeing to be acquired by L3Harris Technologies for $4.7 billion in a combination the companies said would promote weapons development and space technology.
L3Harris dropped 3.7 percent.
This week’s calendar includes durable goods and housing starts data, as well as earnings from FedEx and Nike.
