Stocks plummet as Fed, growth fears intensify
US stocks slid Friday morning as fears of aggressive Federal Reserve policy had equity markets pace towards a big weekly loss and Treasury yields continue a perilous climb to fresh highs.
The benchmark S&P 500 tumbled 1.6% early into the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 400 points, or 1.3% to a near two-year low, falling below the 30,000 level for the first time since June. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite off by 1.7%.
Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury note spiked above 3.7%, hitting the highest level since 2010. The US dollar index reached a fresh two-decade high. And in commodity markets, crude oil fell, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures plunging 4.4% to $ 79.85 per barrel and Brent crude oil down 3.7% at $ 87.05 per barrel.
The moves come after Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates by 75 basis points for a third straight time earlier this week and Chair Jerome Powell implied in hawkish remarks that policymakers were prepared to accept economic pain in exchange for restoring price stability. Central banks around the world have followed suit in recent days.
Goldman Sachs has slashed its year-end 2022 target for the S&P 500 index by about 16% to 3,600 from 4,300.
“The expected path of interest rates is now higher than we previously assumed, which tilts the distribution of equity market outcomes below our prior forecast,” Goldman’s David Kostin said in a note.
“Based on our client discussions, a majority of equity investors have adopted the view that a hard landing scenario is inevitable and their focus is on the timing, magnitude and duration of a potential recession and investment strategies for that outlook,” he wrote.
In corporate news, Costco (COST) was among Friday movers after the bulk retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates but said inflationary pressures were weighing on profit margins as consumer habits shift. Shares were down 3% pre-market.
Shares of FedEx (FDX) slipped roughly 2% in extended trading after the shipping giant announced cost-cutting measures and rate increases, one week after a grim pre-earnings announcement sent its stock plummeting 20%.
–
Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
Click here for the latest trending stock tickers of the Yahoo Finance platform
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedInand YouTube