Stock Market Today: Dow, Nasdaq Drop On Growing Fear Of Recession
U.S. stocks declined Friday, falling for the second consecutive day on rising concerns of a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 281.76 points, or 0.85%, to close at 32,920.46. The S&P 500 declined 43.39 points, or 1.11%, to close at 3,852.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 105.11 points, or 0.97%, to close at 10,705.41.
Stocks have been falling the last two weeks amid the Federal Reserve's unprecedented number of interest rate hikes. The Fed raised its rate 0.50% on Wednesday after raising rates 0.75% in the three previous months.
Recent economic data, including the latest consumer price index, showed the rate of inflation to be slowing. Nonetheless, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled more rate hikes are likely in 2023 until the central bank gets to a 5.1% rate, which is higher than previously forecast.
The Fed's aggressive actions to battle inflation have some concerned that too many hikes at too high of a rate will push the economy into recession.
Some stocks that fell Friday included Alphabet (GOOG), which closed at $90.86, down $0.34, or 0.37%. Apple's (AAPL) price of shares fell $1.99, or 1,46%, to close at $134.51.
"At the beginning of the week, we had the hope, given the very soft CPI number, that we could expect the Fed, and maybe the other central banks of the world, to be less hawkish," Bokeh Capital founder Kim Forrest told CNBC. "But because they didn't, and they had some stern words for investors and consumers alike that they were really focused on getting inflation down quickly, that has taken away a lot of our hope for a soft landing."
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