“But we recognize that there are significant opportunities for potential impacts on energy markets, and we are moving forward, should things deteriorate,” Bowman added. “Obviously we will continue to monitor that, and if we think that may have some impact on the global economy, we will take that into account as we attend our meetings and discuss the economy more broadly.”
The potential global economic fallout from the conflict in Ukraine encouraged traders to seek safety from Treasurys, driving down record US bond yields. About a week ago, 10-year Treasury yields crossed 2%, the highest level since mid-2019, as traders prepare for a price hike. On Tuesday, the yield hovered around 1.94 percent. As bond prices rise, their yield falls.
The prospect of price increases, which could start as early as March, has made owning risky assets, such as technology stocks, unattractive to investors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which fell 1.2 percent on Tuesday, is down nearly 17 percent since its November high.
Shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, have fallen about 40 percent since the beginning of the year, while Microsoft’s shares are down more than 14 percent, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is down about 10 percent.
But the damage was not limited to technology stocks. Other than energy companies, which followed higher oil prices, and financial firms, which were mostly unchanged, every sector of the S&P 500 has fallen significantly since the beginning of the year, with several double-digit declines.
Coral Murphy MarcusAnd the Jenna Smyalek And the William B. Davis Contribute to the preparation of reports.
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