Stocks fell on Friday, with all major averages ending the week lower as investors come to terms with the prospect of more interest-rate hikes ahead from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 0.76%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped 218 points, or 0.64%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the declines, falling 1.01%. The Nasdaq had its first weekly loss in the last eight, while the S&P 500 snapped a five-week win streak.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell doubled down on his view on Thursday that more rate increases are needed to temper inflation, joining a global chorus of hawkish central banks.
That’s revived some worries about the potential hit to economies, though Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she now sees a lower risk of US recession. But a red-hot reading in a key gauge of Japanese inflation has underlined the pressures on policymakers.
