Dow plunges 346 points as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell preaches ‘patience’ on inflation spike

Dow plunges 346 points as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell preaches ‘patience’ on inflation spike

US stocks fell sharply Thursday as investors reacted to comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell refrained from outlining specific steps to rein in what he described as "disorderly" markets. The 10-year Treasury yield spiked back above 1.5% following his statements, spurring a sharp sell-off in the market's most highly valued sectors, like tech.

Some investors had been hoping that Powell would signal openness to "Operation Twist," in which the Fed would sell its shorter-term treasury holdings to fuel the purchase of longer-dated treasury notes like the 10-year, in hopes of containing the spike in interest rates. That did not materialize. 

Powell also said he expects the central bank will "be patient" in waiting for inflation to steadily trend above 2%.

Investors also grappled with tepid labor-market data. Jobless claims rose to 745,000 for the week that ended on Saturday, a slight increase from the prior week's revised total of 736,000. The reading barely beat economic forecasts of 750,000 claims.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Thursday:

The billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC on Thursday that despite his long-term bullishness on Tesla, he had sold about 25% of his clients' stake in the electric-vehicle manufacturer after its position