Rate Hike Sends Stocks Down

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Wall Street turned sharply lower Wednesday after a series of economic reports left investors questioning whether the Federal Reserve might resume its string of interest rate hikes when it meets later this month, the Associated Press reports.

A Labor Department report that wages rose at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the second quarter, above the 4.2 percent the agency estimated, was an unpleasant surprise for a market that had reached three-month highs on hopes of stable rates. For the first quarter, the department said labor costs jumped 9 percent.


According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 63.08, or 0.55 percent, to 11,406.20. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index showed steeper declines. The Nasdaq dropped 37.86, or 1.72 percent, to 2,167.84, in part as Intel Corp. declined following a widely expected announcement of job cuts.



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