Why Shares of Block, Mastercard, and StoneCo Are All Falling Today

Shares of several payments stocks struggled today amid higher inflation and the market's inability to find support as the Federal Reserve weighs key policy decisions that could significantly impact the economy. Shares of Block (NYSE: SQ), formerly Square, had fallen roughly 5.5% as of 12:07 p.m. ET today, shares of Mastercard (NYSE: MA) were down about 2.5%, and shares of StoneCo (NASDAQ: STNE) were down nearly 6%. The Nasdaq Composite had fallen nearly 2.5% at the time of this writing, with the Federal Reserve's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee beginning its first meeting of the year, which wraps up tomorrow.