Wall St closes down for 3rd straight session on Fed rate hike worry

U.S. stocks closed lower for a third straight session on Tuesday as a rise in job openings fueled fears the U.S. Federal Reserve has another reason to maintain its aggressive path of interest rate hikes to combat inflation.

The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX has tumbled more than 5% since Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday reaffirmed the central bank's determination to raise interest rates even in the face of a slowing economy.

Labor demand showed no signs of cooling as U.S. job openings rose to 11.239 million in July and the prior month was revised sharply higher. A separate report showed consumer confidence rebounded strongly in August after three straight monthly declines.

The data increases the focus on the August non-farm payrolls data due on Friday.

New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday the central bank will likely need to get its policy rate about 3.5% and is unlikely to cut interest rates at all next year as it fights inflation.

However, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said in an essay published on Tuesday the Fed could "dial back" from its recent string of 75 basis point hikes if new data shows inflation is "clearly" slowing. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the Fed's pledge to bring inflation down to its 2% goal will not necessarily result in a severe recession.

Traders are pricing in a 74.5% chance of a third straight 75-basis point rate hike at the Fed's September meeting.

Rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks such as $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ , down 0.85%, and $Apple (AAPL.US)$, off 1.53%, were among the biggest drags on the benchmark index.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have broken below their 50-day moving average. The S&P 500 also briefly fell below the 50% Fibonacci retracement level from its June low to August high, another key technical indicator watched by analysts as support.

The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose for the third straight session and hit a six-week high at 27.69 points.

Adding to worries, Taiwan's military fired warning shots at a Chinese drone which buzzed an islet controlled by Taiwan near the Chinese coast.