By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 fell Wednesday, led by tech after data showing consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than three decades stoked fresh concerns about elevated inflation and sooner-than-expected rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

They fell 0.8% and lost 0.60% (or 239 points), while the Nasdaq dropped 1.5%.

According to the Labor Department, Thursday’s CPI rose 0.9% after rising 0.6% in September. This lifted the annual increase of the CPI from 6.2% to 6.2%. It is the highest rate since 1990.

Inflation at a higher pace fueled expectations of Fed tightening faster, which in turn supported a rise in Treasury yields.

“The December FOMC meeting is likely to see the dot plot pull forward the first hike into 2022,” Soctiabank Economics said in a note.

“While the FOMC has pre-committed to the taper path in December, inflation and nonfarm readings like we’ve received may also indicate a bias on the committee toward expediting tapering over 2022H1 at the same meeting.”

If inflation continues to rise, consumer spending will be a major contributor to economic growth. It has been quite resilient so far.

“I don’t think the level of consumer spending is very sustainable,” Sean O’Hara, president of Pacer ETFs, told Investing.com in an interview on Wednesday. “The worst thing is that they will need to trim some discretionary spending because of the increase in daily items which people depend on.”

Technology stocks were affected by rising rates of inflation and a deteriorating investor mood.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:) was one of the biggest decliners in the big tech group after the European Union’s General Court upheld the European Commission’s 2017 order that it pay a $2.8 antitrust fine.

A drop in crude oil stocks and lower prices also had an impact on the wider market. The increase in inventory was 1 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a build of 2.1 million barrels.

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ): The stock was down by 6%. However, it managed to cut some losses. Wall Street still praised optimism about the cryptocurrency exchange platform in spite of third-quarter results which missed both the top line and bottom line.

“Despite the quarterly miss, we point to a number of positive quarterly metrics: Both trading volumes and MTUs exceeded Street’s expectations; the mix from nontrading revenues was up from the prior quarter’s 5% to 13%; and assets on the platform ($255B) were up 600%+, also in-line with expectations,” Wedbush said in a note.

Poshmark (NASDAQ) provided fourth-quarter guidance in revenue that was below Wall Street expectations. The company reported a greater than expected third quarter loss, and weaker revenue. Its stock fell 28%

Other news: The electric-truck maker Rivian Automobile The (NASDAQ:) public market debut was a success. Its $78 IPO price soared 30%. Amazon (NASDAQ:), and Ford have a 20% & 12% share in Rivian.