US stocks end lower as Wall Street fails to shake major sell-off

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks closed lower Thursday as Wall Street failed to shake a major sell-off with investors worried that the Federal Reserve could make a larger rate hike next week to tame inflation.

The Dow was down 173 points, or 0.56%, to 30,961. The S&P 500 fell 44 points, or 1.13%, to 3,901.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 167 points, or 1.43%, to 11,552.

The indices recorded their worst single-day loss in 2022 on Tuesday in a massive sell-off, as annual consumer inflation in the US hit 8.3% in August, above estimates of an 8.1% annual increase.

The probability of the Fed raising rates 100 basis points climbed Wednesday to as high as 34% but eased Thursday to 20%, according to the FedWatch Tool provided by US-based global markets company Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, rose 0.4% to 26.27. The 10-year US Treasury yield was up 1.1% to 3.449%.

The dollar index increased 0.1% to 109.73 and the euro was also up 0.2% to $0.9998 against the greenback.

Precious metals were on the decline, with gold falling 1.9% to $1,664, a 52-week low. Silver dove 2.3% to $19.18.

Oil prices were down more than 3%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $90.73 a barrel for a 3.6% loss. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was around $85.09 -- off 3.8%.