At the close in the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones fell 0.30%, the S&P 500 fell 0.52% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 1.21%.
Wall Street's major stock indexes are losing. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell remained committed to bringing inflation to the target of 2%, which provoked fears about further tightening of policy. Inflationary pressures remain high and it will take a long time for inflation to return to the 2.0% target.
Shares of large companies are struggling to grow against the backdrop of a slight increase in yields on 2-year government bonds after Powell's comments.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the top performer in the Dow Jones Index today, up 7.36 points or 1.57% to close at 476.75. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) rose 0.86% or 1.28 points to close at 149.44. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) rose 0.93 points or 0.84% to close at 111.16.
The least gainers were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which shed 2.10 points or 6.00% to end the session at 32.90. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was up 7.38 points or 3.40% to close at 209.59, while Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was down 0.83 points (2 .56%) and finished trading at 31.56.
The leading performers in the S&P 500 index today were Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), which rose 4.56% to 142.77, Corteva Inc (NYSE:CTVA), which gained 3.59%. , to close at 58.57, and FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC), which rose 3.40% to close at 108.86.
The least gainers were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which shed 6.00% to close at 32.90. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) shed 5.73% to end the session at 112.11. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down 5.46% to 259.46.
Leading gainers among the components of the NASDAQ Composite in today's trading were Advanced Human Imaging Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:AHI), which rose 101.35% to 1.49, Root Inc (NASDAQ:ROOT), which gained 59. 80% to close at 9.62, and U Power Ltd (NASDAQ:UCAR), which rose 48.49% to close at 8.36.
The least gainers were Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PIRS), which shed 70.86% to close at 0.26. Shares of Oncorus Inc (OTC:ONCR) shed 54.21% to end the session at 0.06. Toughbuilt Industries Inc (NASDAQ:TBLT) dropped 53.70% to 0.26.
On the New York Stock Exchange, the number of securities that rose in price (1492) exceeded the number of those that closed in the red (1456), while quotes of 115 shares remained virtually unchanged. On the NASDAQ stock exchange, 2,087 companies fell in price, 1,459 rose, and 146 remained at the previous close.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which is based on S&P 500 options trading, fell 4.90% to 13.20, hitting a new 3-year low.
Gold futures for August delivery lost 0.18%, or 3.45, to hit $1.00 a troy ounce. In other commodities, WTI crude for August delivery rose 1.92%, or 1.37, to $72.56 a barrel. Futures for Brent crude for August delivery rose 1.63%, or 1.24, to $77.14 a barrel.
Meanwhile, in the Forex market, EUR/USD rose 0.65% to hit 1.10, while USD/JPY edged up 0.26% to hit 141.82.
Futures on the USD index fell 0.45% to 101.67.