S&P 500 off lows, but remains under pressure as financials, industrials weigh

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 moved off session lows Wednesday, but remained under pressure from a slump in industrials and weakness in financials amid jitters that the banking turmoil isn't over just as concerns about the economy intensify.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.71% or 237 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%.

Regional banks including Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION), First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), and Comerica (NYSE:CMA) led the selloff in financials as JPMorgan chief executive warned that the banking crisis was far from over and the impact of the turmoil in the sector will likely reverberate for years.

The warning arrived just as data showed job openings fell more than expected last month, adding to concerns about the economy just as Federal Reserve members continue to call for higher rates.

The U.S. Labor Department's latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTs report, a measure of labor demand, showed job openings in February fell to about 9.9 million, missing expectations of 10.4M.

Industrials, meanwhile, was also a big drag on the broader market, paced by a decline in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) after Baird downgraded the stocks to underperform.

Baird said both companies will likely see a dent in building activity as the banking turmoil in regional banks, which account for about 70% of commercial real estate loans, leads to reduced lending activity.

Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA), a major Dow component, fell 1% after Northcoast Research downgraded the company to sell from neutral amid worries that engine maker CFM International won't be able to deliver enough engines to the aircraft maker, curbing its growth.

Energy, meanwhile, gave up its gains from a day earlier as oil prices as investor focus shifted to the impact of a slowing global economy on crude demand.

Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO), Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) were among the biggest losers, with the latter more than 7%.

In other news, Virgin Orbit Holdings (NASDAQ:VORB) fell 30% as the satellite launch company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after recently announcing that it would cut the bulk of its staff as it failed to secure funding.

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