The Dow fell 500 points as banking concerns spread

New York (CNN) The Dow Jones index opened the day down more than 500 points on Wednesday as banking concerns spread trade markAlthough the index trimmed its losses to close the day down by 281 points, or 0.9%.

The S&P and Nasdaq were down around 2% and 1.5%, respectively, earlier in the session. The S&P closed down about 0.7%, while the Nasdaq posted slight gains today.

Stocks listed in New York (C.S) from the embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse It had fallen as much as 30% earlier in the day after the bank’s largest shareholder chose not to increase its financing, after the bank cited “material weakness” in its financial reports Tuesday and dumped executive bonuses.

Credit Suisse eventually closed down about 24%. The Swiss Central Bank said late WednesdayIt was ready to provide financial support to Credit Suisse if needed.

US bank stocks also fell: Wells Fargo (WFC) It closed down about 3.3% and c. B. Morgan Chase (JPM) The stock fell 4.7%.

Wall Street also continues to grapple with banking turmoil domestically, after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that shook the markets last week and early this week. While stocks recouped some of their losses on Tuesday, investors remain concerned about the banking fallout and what that means for the Fed’s future rate hike campaign and the overall stability of the financial sector.

CNN Fear and Greed Index It was 22 in the morning on Wednesday before it dropped to around 20 in the late afternoon, indicating extreme fear in the market.

The markets have also digested the latest economic data which gives an insight into the state of inflation. The producer price index, a measure of the prices paid for goods and services by businesses before they are sold to customers, fell to 4.6% for the 12 months ending in February.

Meanwhile, US retail sales fell 0.4% last month, showing that Americans cut back on spending in February after increasing spending in the previous month.

Both data points indicate that the Fed is making progress in its fight against inflation. CME FedWatch showed that traders see a 58.3% chance of a quarter-point rate hike at next week’s central bank meeting.

In the aftermath of the Silicon Valley bank collapse, the largest US bank failure since 2008, CNN is hosting a special about the crisis that looks at what it means for banks and their customers everywhere. Watch “Bank Bust: What’s Next for America’s Money” tonight, March 15, at 9 p.m. ET.