Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said at a conference that the central bank must act faster to curb high inflation. For example, the balance sheet full of purchased bonds must be reduced quickly, she said.
Less accommodative monetary policy often means that interest rates will rise, making equities a less attractive investment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.8 percent lower at 34,641.18 points. The broad S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent to 4,525.12 points and tech Nasdaq fell 2.3 percent. Fast-growing tech companies, in particular, are selling out amid concerns about higher interest rates.
Low interest rates
There are also fears that a quick departure from low interest rates will slow down economic growth in the US, say experts from Deutsche Bank, among others.
Investors also processed the news of new sanctions that the United States wants to introduce along with the G7 and European Union. It would be banned from investing in Russia. According to broadcaster NBC, financial institutions and state-owned companies are being further tackled.
Twitter gained more than 2 percent. The social media company has made room for Tesla CEO Elon Musk on its board. The news comes a day after it became clear that Musk has taken a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, which gave the stock its largest daily profit since its IPO in 2013.
Carnival
Carnival rose 2.4 percent. The cruise line said it had seen the highest number of cruise bookings ever in the week to April 3. Airline Spirit Airlines became worth almost 23 percent more after takeover rumours. Industry partner JetBlue Airways would like to take over the budget airline for $ 3.6 billion, which is more than a previously announced merger proposal from competitor Frontier.
The euro was worth $1.0902, against $1.0992 a day earlier. A barrel of US oil cost 0.7 percent more at 104.01 dollars. Brent oil became 0.6 percent more expensive, at USD 108.25 a barrel.
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