- US stocks opened lower on Friday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell prepared investors for bigger interest rate hikes ahead.
- "I would say 50 basis points will be on the table for the May meeting," Powell said at an IMF debate on Thursday.
- Meanwhile, first-quarter results continue to beat revenue and profit estimates.
US stocks opened lower on Friday as investors grapple with new comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that indicate bigger interest rate hikes ahead.
"I would say 50 basis points will be on the table for the May meeting," Powell said at an IMF debate on Thursday, as the Fed struggles to contain an inflationary rate that has surged to 40-year highs in recent months.
Powell's warming to the idea of a 50-basis-point rate hike at its next meeting in May has some analysts now calling for a 75-basis-point increase. "75bps is the new 25bps," Bank of America said in a Friday note, arguing that an interest rate shock is likely.
For the week, the S&P 500 is down 0.6%, while the Dow is up 0.2% and the Nasdaq is down 1.7%, heading for its third straight weekly drop.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,371.21, down 0.51%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,565.94, down 0.62% (214.38 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,169.56, down 0.04%
First-quarter corporate earnings continue to beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. According to data from Fundstrat, of the 95 companies that have reported so far, or 19% of the S&P 500, results are beating profit estimates by a median of 6%. Meanwhile, revenue estimates have been beating by a median of 3%.
Cryptocurrencies continue to trade in a sideways range as bitcoin remains in a bear market. These were the 5 best performing cryptos over the past week.
China's yuan was on track for its worst weekly drop since 2015 on Friday, as investors rushed back to the US. The offshore yuan, or renminbi, had fallen 2.4% over the week to 6.53 per dollar, according to Bloomberg data.
Demand for oil in China is on pace to slide 20% this month, the biggest shock since the early days of COVID, according to a Bloomberg report. The decline is the equivalent to a drop in crude oil consumption of 1.2 million barrels a day.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell as much as much as 1.92% to $101.80 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell as much as 1.68% to $106.51.
Bitcoin fell 0.10% to $40,472. Ether prices rose 0.36% to $3,005.
Gold fell as much as 0.66% to $1,935.30 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added 8 basis points to 2.93%.
