PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by disappointing corporate results and the decline in growth stocks with the prospect of a rapid rise in interest rates in the United States.
The Dow Jones index fell 2.82%, or 981.36 points, to 33,811.4 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 121.88 points, or 2.77%, to 4,271.78 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 335.36 points (-2.55%) to 12,839.29 points.
Over the whole week, the S&P-500 ended down 2.75%, the Dow 1.86% and the Nasdaq 3.83%.
Concerns about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy continued to weigh on major growth stocks, particularly in the aftermath of the ‘hawkish’ comments made by the institution’s president, Jerome Powell.
The latter said on Thursday that a 50 basis point hike in the federal funds rate target (“fed funds”) would be “on the table” at the May 3-4 meeting.
Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet fell from 2.41% to 4.15%.
The 11 major sectors of the S&P-500 fell, particularly the materials compartment (-3.73%), penalized by the decline in Nucor (-8.26%) and Freeport-McMoran (-6.79%) while that investors are concerned about the impact of monetary tightening by the Fed on mining groups.
On the earnings side, Gap fell 18.05% after lowering its quarterly sales target, citing struggles at its Old Navy brand and “macroeconomic momentum.”
Verizon dropped 5.64% after analysts found it a disappointing full-year profit forecast.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by)
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