S&P 500 Moves To Session Lows After Hawkish Comments From Fed Officials

Chinese protests and Fed speakers lower market sentiment

As traders reacted to protests in China and hawkish remarks from Fed officials, the S&P 500 ended the day below the 4000 mark.

Protests erupted in China after a fire in the Xinjiang province claimed the lives of 10 people. Protesters felt that anti-coronavirus precautions were to blame for the fire victims' delayed assistance.

Markets worry that China's zero-COVID policy and protests will increase economic pressure and cause more supply chain problems. These worries caused WTI oil to reach yearly lows, but oil markets recovered on December 4 amid speculations of a probable OPEC+ output cut.

Additional pressure was applied on market sentiment by Fed speakers. Fed's Williams stated that by the end of 2023, the jobless rate could reach 5% and inflation would still be too high. He stated that the Fed should keep raising interest rates.

Williams also said that the Fed would start lowering interest rates in 2024, which the market found to be excessively hawkish given that it had hoped the Fed would begin doing so in the second half of 2023.

Bullard of the Fed stated that the markets were underestimating the likelihood of increased interest rates. He said the rates have to be increased by at least 5%.

Tech equities, which are susceptible to shifts in the market's appetite for risk, were the main drivers of today's decline. In today's trading session, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta all experienced a slight decline of roughly 2%.