Fri Nov 15 23:44:30 UTC 2024: **Wall Street Suffers Worst Day Since Election as “Trump Bump” Fades**

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks plummeted Friday, experiencing their worst single-day decline since before the presidential election, as the initial surge fueled by Donald Trump’s victory and a Federal Reserve interest rate cut began to wane. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 305 points (0.7%), and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.2%.

The decline was partly attributed to concerns surrounding President-elect Trump’s potential appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, to head the Department of Health and Human Services. This announcement caused vaccine makers like Moderna (down 7.3%) and Pfizer (down 4.7%) to suffer significant losses. While Kennedy’s confirmation remains uncertain, analysts expressed concerns about the potential impact on the sector and broader investor confidence.

Beyond the vaccine sector, Applied Materials, a semiconductor industry supplier, experienced a 9.2% drop despite exceeding profit expectations for the latest quarter. This underscored a broader market trend: companies are facing pressure to deliver substantial growth to justify their rapidly rising stock prices, which have outpaced earnings growth.

The “Trump bump,” which initially boosted sectors like banking and smaller U.S. companies, is now facing headwinds. Rising Treasury yields, reflecting both economic strength and worries about increased government deficits under Trump’s potential policies, are raising inflation concerns and prompting reassessment of the Federal Reserve’s future rate cuts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently suggested the central bank may be less inclined to further reduce rates.

While retail sales data showed unexpectedly strong consumer spending in October, suggesting post-election relief spending, the strength was partly offset by weaker-than-expected sales excluding autos. Despite Friday’s losses, the S&P 500 remains up 23% for the year. International markets saw mixed results, with London’s FTSE 100 falling and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rising based on their respective economic data.

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