By Andrea Hargraves 
Wall Street ended the session in negative territory, as it was penalized by “short sellers” and other investors worried in light of the “hard-line” statements of some members of the US Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.86% to 33,716.15 points, while the S&P 500 posted its biggest one-day decline since June, dropping 1.29% to 4,228.37 points. The Nasdaq Technology Composite Index fell 2.01% to 12,705.22 points.
Volatility was also on the rise: The Cboe Volatility Index, also known as the “Wall Street Fear Index”, renewed its two-week high, touching 20 points.
Part of this volatility can be explained by the fact that a $2 billion options contract expired on Friday. “Short sellers” also had a strong presence in this session, having posted their best week since March 2020, according to Bloomberg.
The session was marked by statements from three Federal Reserve members who stressed the need to continue raising interest rates. Bank of Richmond Governor Thomas Barkin said the Fed “must do whatever it takes to contain inflation”.
Thus Thomas Barkin is joined by two other FOMC members – James Bullard and Esther George – who, citing Bloomberg, have stressed the need to continue raising interest rates to ensure inflation reaches the 2% target.
Among the major market moves, the 40.03% decline was in Bed, Bath & Beyond.
This week, GameStop President Ryan Cohen sold all shares for a global value of $189.3 million, it was announced after the close of Thursday’s session on Wall Street, confirming rumors already circulating in the newspapers. . The businessman made a profit of 68.1 million US dollars from the sale of his share in the capital of the company.
Also of note were Coinbase Bonds, which sank 11.9%, as well as shares of Marathon Digital Holdings (-15.39%) and Riot Blockchain (-12.68%), which pulled back from a two-month minimum stumbling Bitcoin trip.
Finally, Occidental Petroleum rose 9.94%, after the company led by Warren Buffett received the green light from the US Energy Regulatory Authority, to move forward with a proposal to strengthen its position in the oil company by up to 50% of the company’s capital.