Wall Street stocks tumbled on Thursday as a round of upbeat economic data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lift borrowing costs to fight inflation.

The gloom was deepened further by weak earnings news, including from chipmaker Micron Technology, which announced plans to axe 10 per cent of its workforce amid weaker demand, while used car dealer CarMax said it was halting buybacks and cutting costs after a four-fifths plunge in third-quarter net profit.

The S&P 500 closed 1.4 per cent lower, having fallen almost 3 per cent earlier. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index slid 2.2 per cent. The S&P 500 is off a fifth this year, leaving Wall Street’s blue-chip benchmark on track for its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis, according to Refinitiv data.