CNBC’s Jim Cramer put the decline back on Monday on news from the US Treasury chief.
Secretary of State Janet Yellen told Bloomberg News on Sunday that an interest rate hike would be positive for the country if the Biden government’s grand spending plans help set off some inflation in an expanding economy.
“The prospect of higher interest rates has scared the market,” Cramer said on Mad Money in response to the mixed session on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 126 points, or 0.36%, to close at 34,630.24. The S&P 500 finished 0.08% lower at 4,226.52. The Nasdaq Composite was a winner, however, rising 0.49% to 13,881.72.
Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chairman, said Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s $ 4 trillion bailout could plunge to $ 400 billion each year, but argued that any increase in consumer prices over the next year would subside.
“It made salespeople [do] what is widely known as “hit bids,” “Cramer said, referring to when traders are willing to sell a stock below a buyer’s bid price.
This helped lower the stock of steel maker Nucor, one of the top S&P 500 winners that year. Nucor stock bounced back from its lows and closed at $ 107.37.
“Sellers overwhelmed buyers, beating all bids” to an intraday low of $ 105.51, down from $ 110 last week, Cramer said.
“I think it’s a fabulous buying opportunity. Nucor has had several years of doing well when the [business] Cycle gets going, “he said.” But the stock closed more than 1%, which put me in an opposition camp. “