PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange traded lower in early trade on Friday as mixed U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve monetary policy fears overshadowed strong quarterly performance from the giant Apple.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 0.8% to 33,888.59 points and the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.6% to 4,300.41 points.
The Nasdaq Composite took 0.57% to 13,276.342.
While the PCE consumer price index excluding energy and unprocessed food increased by 0.5% in December, in line with expectations, this “core PCE” index rose a little more than expected over one year to reach 4 .9%, unheard of since the early 1980s.
Wall Street’s major indexes are on course for their fourth consecutive week of declines as investors broadly expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates five times this year to counter high inflation.
Bank of America even predicts up to seven Fed rate hikes in 2022.
“We knew monetary tightening was coming. As we come out of this period of 0% interest rates and high liquidity, we should expect a bit more volatility,” said Darrell Spence at Capital. Group.
The 2.49% increase in Apple, which published record quarterly sales, is not enough to counter the risk aversion that dominates global markets.
In other corporate news, Visa climbs 5.67% after results beat expectations while Caterpillar sheds 3.23% after warning that rising production costs will weigh on its profit margin. quarterly operation.