Stock sell-off accelerates into the close, with Dow dropping more than 300 points; European stocks struggle for direction after hitting record highs 
Stocks fell Wednesday, putting the Dow Jones Industrial Average on pace for its first loss of 2022. 
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average turned lower, falling 255 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 lost 1.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted, by 2.4%. 
The 10-year Treasury yield hit its high of the day and the S&P 500 hit its low of the session as investors digested the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, which showed the Fed discussing reducing its balance sheet shortly after it raises rates later this year.  
Mega cap tech stocks were all lower, along with Oracle, Cisco Systems and Intuit. Salesforce dropped 7.7% following a downgrade from UBS. UBS also cut Adobe, sending its shares down 6.5%. Among chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices fell about 5%. Nvidia and Marvell lost about 4%. 
Bank of America gave an upgrade to Pfizer, noting that the company’s profits from Covid treatments provide upside for the stock. Pfizer’s shares moved 2.3% higher. 

European stocks struggled for direction Wednesday following a record rally in the previous session as global investors kept an eye on U.S. bond yield movements. 
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed slightly above the flatline, with sectors and bourses pointing in different directions. Automakers were the top performers, climbing 2.4%, with the likes of Renault, Daimler and Stellantis leading gains for the sector. 
Source: CNBC, Investing.com