Stock market has worst week since pandemic began

Between Tuesday and Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,400 points, the market's worst week since the COVID-19 pandemic began, The Washington Post reported. The S&P 500 fell by 5.1 percent and the Nasdaq by 6.2 percent during the same time period.

"The biggest drive of the plunge" was, per the Post, "growing concerns that persistently high inflation will force the Federal Reserve ... to aggressively raise interest rates this year."

During his Jan. 11 confirmation hearing, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that if "we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will. We will use our tools to get inflation back [under control]." Powell is expected to be confirmed for another four-year term as Fed chair.

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After a crash at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, markets quickly bounced back and had been on an upward trajectory for almost two years. Some analysts say the market was overvalued and that this drop was a necessary correction.

According to MarketWatch, cryptocurrencies also took a hit. The price of Bitcoin dropped 7.2 percent, slipping below $35,000 for the first time since July 2021.