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The Dow fell to its lowest levels in more than a year Thursday. Shortly before Noon EDT, it had rebounded slightly from a low of 29,808 to 29,943 points.
BetOnline has the its end-of-month total set at 30250.5 Points.
Why is the Dow Dropping Thursday?
The primary reason for the tumble appeared to be what's been forecast by experts all week. The Fed raised its benchmark funds rate to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. This represents the highest number since March 2020. Wall Street continues to fear a recession.
Tech shares fell 4.4 percent across the board.
Billionaire investor Orlando Bravo told CNBC "there is more point to come" for the tech sector.
Higher rates make growth-oriented companies’ future earnings less attractive, CNBC's Ryan Browne noted.
“When those companies really start getting down to answering the investor question, the path to profitability, they’re not going to love what they see,” said Bravo.
“That requires a lot of cost reductions, it requires a lot of pain,” he added. “And it’s difficult to execute especially in a public setting.”
European stocks closed 2.3% lower as the central banks hiked interest rates on Thursday. The Bank of England hiked its interest rate for the fifth consecutive time while the Swiss National Bank implemented a 50 basis point rate hike, the first increase in nearly 15 years.
Crypto Rollercoaster Ride Continues
The price of Bitcoin appeared to be hanging in the $20,000 to $23,000 realm with sharp ups and downs over the last 24 hours. The price at Noon EDT had only lost about 1 percent of its value over this time frame, making for a somewhat stable day in the world of cryptocurrencies.
The so-called "Bitcoin Winter" kicked off last week and really delve into some dark territory with Binance briefly halting withdrawals and Coinbase reducing its staff by 18%.
Some Bitcoin experts have shrugged off the crash.
"Crypto bear markets usually draw down between 85% and 90%,"Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockworks, tells CNN.
Two prolonged crypto downturns in the past have resulted in Bitcoin losing 80% of its value, only to bounce back and add even more value.
"If you bought [bitcoin] at the peak of the 2017 bull run (around $20,000), you saw a decline of 80% over the following year. But if you continued to hold, you'd be up nearly 60% right now — even after the crypto market's most recent decline from all-time highs last November," said Felix Honigwachs, CEO of Xchange Monster.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
