After the gains at the beginning of the week, the US stock exchanges are experiencing a pitch-black trading day. The Dow Jones index collapses by almost four percent. Investors fear rising interest rates and are pulling out of stocks in droves. The papers of retailers are particularly affected.

Investors are fleeing the US stock markets for fear of more drastic interest rate hikes by the Fed and the consequences for the economy. The standard value index Dow Jones closed 3.6 percent lower on Wednesday at 31,490 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4.7 percent to 11,418 points. The broad S

“Markets don’t like uncertainty,” said Brooke May, partner at wealth management firm Evans May. “It’s unclear how far the Fed will have to go to get inflation under control. Higher interest rates are hurting consumer spending as well as corporate earnings. ” Fed Chair Jerome Powell had earlier reiterated his commitment to fighting inflation and had not ruled out more aggressive rate hikes. Some stockbrokers feared that tightening monetary policy too quickly would plunge the economy into a recession. Therefore, they parted ways in anticipation of falling demand for commodities. US wheat futures fell 3.7 percent to $12.295 a bushel

Among the companies, Target stood out with a price drop of a good 26 percent at times. This is the biggest loss in more than 34 years. The retailer increased quarterly sales to $25.17 billion. Due to rising costs, however, profits fell by half to $2.19 per share. “Target’s numbers show a remarkably similar pattern to Walmart’s,” commented analyst Michael Baker of research house DA. Davidson. The rising costs could not have been fully passed on to the customers. Walmart had tipped its full-year targets after a slump in profits. In the wake of Target, the stocks of other retailers such as Kohl’s or Macy lost up to eleven percent.

Investors were also disappointed with Lowe’s business figures. Due to low demand for grills and garden equipment, sales at the hardware store chain fell by a surprisingly strong three percent to $23.66 billion. Similar to rival Home Depot, the profit margins are higher than expected, Davidson expert Baker interjected. In addition, after the adverse weather in April, business can be expected to pick up in May. Lowe’s shares fell more than 5 percent.

Tesla was hit by being kicked out of an index. The papers of the electric car manufacturer gave way almost seven percent. The index provider S

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