U.S. stocks were falling as recession fears take hold

© Reuters.

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling as fears about a possible recession overcame the good news about China relaxing its COVID-19 restrictions.

At 9:51 ET (14:51 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 47 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.6%.

China is dropping testing for domestic travel. That comes after widespread protests about its COVID rules.

Still, investors in the U.S. are facing next week’s meeting by the Federal Reserve, which is expected to raise interest rates again as it tries to tame inflation. Some are concerned that the tightening will ultimately tip the U.S. into a recession, and that fear was reinforced by comments on Tuesday from top Wall Street bankers.

JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon said inflation and rising interest rates would whittle away the savings people accumulated over the last couple of years and put pressure on the economy, with the possibility of a recession next year.

Many expect the Fed will raise rates by a slightly slower pace than it has at each of its last four meetings. Recent comments from Fed officials suggest rates will remain higher for longer than people had forecast.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) shares rose 3% after it beat estimates for adjusted profit and revenue on improvements in the supply chain and strong pricing. Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL) stock rose more than 3% as the home builder also cited pricing for helping it beat revenue and profit expectations for the recent quarter.

Oil rose.Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 0.8% to $74.86 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was up 0.9% to $80.12 a barrel and Gold Futures rose 0.9% to $1798.