US stocks fell Friday, leaving the S&P 500 down for the week. The index snapped four weeks of weekly gains with more than $2 trillion worth of options expiring. Fed officials are voicing support for more aggressive rate hikes. Loading Something is loading.
US stocks dropped Friday, ending a weekly run of wins for the S&P 500 as Federal Reserve officials backed the continuation of aggressive rate hikes to bring down high inflation.
Stocks fell as more than $2 trillion worth of options tied to the S&P 500, single stocks, and other indexes were expiring. The moves left the S&P 500 down for the first week after four weeks of advances. Bank of America said Friday stocks were in the midst of a “classic” bear-market rally and the lows haven’t been seen yet.
Risk aversion set in as Federal Reserve officials lent support toward potential more big rate increases to cool down consumer prices.
“We’re committed to returning inflation to our 2% target and we’ll do what it takes to get there,” Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said during an event in Maryland on Friday, according to Bloomberg.
Here’s where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Friday:
S&P 500: 4,228.48, down 1.29% Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,706.74, down 0.86% (292.30 points)Nasdaq Composite: 12,705.21, down 2.01% Earlier Friday, the US Dollar Index climbed to a fresh one-month high following hawkish comments St. Louis Fed President James Bullard who said Thursday said he’d look to raise interest rates by 75 basis points in September.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly on Thursday said rate hikes of 50 basis points or 75 basis points next month would be “reasonable” and suggested the Fed could keep raising rates into 2023.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak next Friday at the central bank’s Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming. The Fed has raised rates by a hefty 75 basis points at its previous two meetings. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for September 20-21.
Around the markets, Occidental Petroleum jumped after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway won regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the oil company’s common stock.
General Motors shares rose after the automaker said it will resume paying a quarterly dividend, which it suspended as the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding. It will also restart share repurchases, with the board increasing its buyback capacity to $5 billion.
Bed Bath & Beyond plunged after Ryan Cohen, the retailer’s second-largest shareholder, dumped his entire stake for a $68 million profit. Other speculative parts of financial markets were under pressure, with bitcoin sliding under $22,000.
Middle Eastern states like Saudi Arabia will land a $1.3 trillion windfall from soaring oil prices, according to the IMF. Meanwhile, Myanmar is buying Russian oil, calling it “high-quality” and cheap.
Oil prices fell but pared losses. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.1% to $90.41 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, shed 0.3% to $96.34.
Gold lost 0.6% at $1,760.10 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 10 basis points to 2.98%.
Bitcoin fell 8.8% to $21,352.12.
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