The Dow Jones fell in choppy trading, the Nasdaq held on to a small gain

Stocks alternated between gains and losses in volatile trading on Wednesday as investors tried to find a foothold after their biggest one-day drop in more than two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 75 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 was little changed, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%. The Dow Jones fell more than 200 points at session lows.

Honeywell was the worst performer in the Dow, down 3%. Johnson & Johnson and Chevron each rose about 2% to limit market losses.

The uncertain trade comes after a massive sell-off in stocks on Tuesday. The Dow Jones fell more than 1,200 points, or nearly 4%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down 5.2%. It was the largest one-day slide for all three averages since June 2020.

The decline started due to August CPI report, which showed headline inflation Up 0.1% m/m despite lower gas prices.

The heated inflation report has left questions about whether stocks will return to their June lows or fall further. It also raised some concerns that the Federal Reserve might do so Possibly higher height From 75 basis points are priced in the markets.

“The selling on Tuesday is a reminder that a continued rally is likely to require clear evidence that inflation is on a downward trend. With macroeconomic and policy uncertainty rising, we expect markets to remain volatile in the coming months,” Mark Heffley, CIO at UBS Global Wealth Management said in a note to clients.

All 30 Dow Jones stocks and Standard & Poor’s 500 sectors ended the session lower, sending telecom services down. The sector fell 5.6% and ended its worst day since February, weighed down by major tech stocks such as Netflix and Meta Platforms, which fell 7.8% and 9.4%, respectively.