U.S. stocks trade sharply lower on sell-off
Xinhua,January 31, 2018 Adjust font size:
NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks trade sharply lower on Tuesday as the first major sell-off this year intensified.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 327.06 points, or 1.24 percent, to 26,112.42. The S&P 500 decreased 26.97 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,826.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 57.13 points, or 0.77 percent, to 7,409.38.
The Cboe Volatility index, widely considered the best fear gauge in the stock market, rose 10.69 percent to 15.25.
On the economic front, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 125.4 in January, higher than estimated. The measure declined to 122.1 in December.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve kicked off its latest two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. Market expectations for a rate hike are just 5.2 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Enditem