North American stock markets record worst month of the year – Stock Exchange

The main stock exchanges on the other side of the Atlantic closed lower, in a session in which investors were digesting new economic data – the drop in consumer confidence and persistent wage pressures. This is on the eve of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.

Although it has been anticipated for some time that the Fed will leave key interest rates unchanged at between 5.25% and 5.5% (minimum of 20 years), caution has prevailed and investors have shown themselves to be more averse to risk – especially in last minute of negotiation.

The Dow Jones industrial index closed down 1.49%, to 37,815.92 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 1.57% to 5,035.69 points.

For its part, the technological Nasdaq Composite lost 2.04% to settle at 15,657.82 points.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq thus recorded their worst month, in percentage terms, since September last year. The Dow recorded the worst monthly performance since September 2022. This after the three indices had a positive balance in the last five months.

Investors are also looking forward to the quarterly results of listed companies. Since last week, technology has been in full swing, in this “earnings season” it is Amazon’s turn to report its numbers.