NTSE president Lynn Martin says a host of concerns continue to weigh on investors

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NTSE president Lynn Martin says a host of concerns continue to weigh on investors

NYSE President Lynn Martin told Yahoo Finance Live that a host of concerns continue to weigh on the minds of stock market investors. "We have the geopolitical uncertainty, but there is also uncertainty about the U.S. economy, in particular," Martin said. That is very much on the minds of the investor. The price of gas, food, or whatever the case may be, is dealing with inflation. You are seeing it also around interest rate hikes. Is the Fed going to raise rates by 25 basis points to curb inflation? At the moment, you have two different dynamics at play. That is weighing on the investors understandably. The clouds hanging over the heads of investors have materialized in a few forms, none too pretty.

The stock prices of tech names owned by many average investors in 2022 have suffered a major decline in the last few years.

The FAANG Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google complex have shed more than 18% year-to-date, leading to a nearly 69% crash for Netflix. According to a new survey from Bank of America, institutional investors have never been more bearish about the tech sector.

Selling pressure seems to be spreading to value-focused areas of the market.

The shares of dividend-paying Walmart plunged 11% on Tuesday as a result of a large first quarter earnings shortfall and profit warning. The world's largest retailer blamed inflation and a more cautious consumer for its earnings day troubles.

The space of acquisitions and IPOs initial public offerings is not much better.

In the first quarter, the value and volume of deals fell by a whopping one-fifth year over the last year, according to Refinitiv data. According to EY data, global IPO activity in the first quarter fell 37% from a year ago to a paltry 321 deals.

Martin said that the outlook for IPOs isn't totally dour.

She said it was not that different from other periods when there was uncertainty in the market. The market's volatility has slowed, which has slowed the coming to market. We are talking to new innovative companies every day about how they are coming to market, and when they come to market. They are excited about coming to market, but they will pick the right time to come. You can follow Sozzi on Twitter and LinkedIn.