*By Kristen Lee*
U.S. stocks accelerated losses at the end of the day Wednesday, with the Dow dropping 600 points and the Nasdaq on pace for its biggest monthly drop in a decade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down 608 points, the S&P lost more than 3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost nearly 4.5 percent.
The sell-off was driven in part by a Commerce Department report that home sales plunged 5.5 percent in September, which rattled investors who expected only a slight decline.
Tech stocks especially weighed on markets. Netflix ($NFLX) and chipmaker Nvidia ($NVDA) were both down nearly 10 percent, Facebook ($FB), down nearly 6 percent, and Google parent Alphabet ($GOOGL), down more than 5 percent.
A jury in Illinois has ordered Chicago-based Conagra Brands to pay $7.1 million to a Pennsylvania woman who was badly injured in 2017 when a can of commercial brand cooking spray ignited in a kitchen at her workplace and set her aflame.
Most Americans are in the middle-income brackets, but they aren't leveraging higher interest rates for savings, according to a new survey.
Job openings rose to 9.6 million in September while the private sector added 113,000 new jobs in October.
The Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead.
As the holiday season nears and with families making plans for Thanksgiving at the end of the month, concerns about high food prices linger. Dr. Michael Swanson, chief agricultural economist with Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, joined Cheddar News to provide tips on what to expect when shopping for those large family meals.
Can money really buy happiness? Grant Gallagher, associate vice president and head of financial well-being with Affinity Federal Credit Union, joined Cheddar News to explain which steps to take for financial security and safety.
SAG-AFTRA will meet again with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to discuss putting an end to the ongoing strike.
Italian car maker Fiat is opening an apartment building in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar has teamed up with Fidelity to set kids up for success.
LinkedIn is rolling out generative AI tools for premium members.
