Stocks cratered today – the market’s steepest percentage decline in 2¼ years. The reason: data confirming that inflation was still hotter than feared in August, essentially guaranteeing that the Federal Reserve won’t moderate its campaign of interest rate increases anytime soon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.9 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite skidded 5.2 percent.
U.S. oil prices fell slightly today. October crude dipped 47 cents to settle at $87.31 a barrel.
Holiday shopping will almost certainly grow again this year in terms of overall spending, but many people say they’ll likely buy fewer gifts, and give them to fewer people. Analysts at GlobalData Retail say, thanks in part to inflation, consumers will be “more frugal and practical in their gift spending. That means cutting back on gifting to non-family members.”
